Religion and Politics
Religion and politics has always been an issue throughout our nation’s history. The separation of church and state stems from the oppressive grasp Catholicism had on founding people of our country. I have no quarrel with Catholicism, but our country’s founding people understood that in order for a country to be successfully progressive, religion must not be a part of the government. Today, religion is taking a new leap in society; politics. Politics and religious perspectives have recently shifted to a new realm as discussed in one of our class readings by E.J Donnie Jr. Religious perspectives have shifted to specific political beliefs and no longer involve the traditional religious views. For example, Catholic conservatives traditionally voted because they believed in limited government, private health care practices, a free market system and because fellow Catholics traditionally voted conservative. But, as of recent years the buzz around political affiliation seems to be about more moral questioning issues. Issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the poor or gay marriage seem to have the most separation of political parties as opposed to traditional perspectives. The moral dilemma of political parties it seems is what is ultimately separates democrats and republicans, but also fellow Catholics, Protestants or Jews. Religious interpretations of morality have an immense influence on political affiliation among the public. Morales and politics have always intertwined throughout out our nation’s history, but not to the extent of today’s separation of political parties. In recent years people affiliated with the same religious view have been divided due to politics not because of their views on God.
Separation of political parties today does not originate from traditional beliefs of politics; it seems today that people affiliate themselves from one party opposed to another because of moral debated issues. As E.J Donnie Jr. writes in his article titled, “America’s Religious Communities and the Battle over Government”, he states “this divide between individual and social responsibility is a relatively recent phenomenon in our politics”. People decided whether to be affiliated with certain parties because of their perspectives on abortion or gay rights especially in religious communities. This may not speak for everyone, but from studies of Donnie Jr., he states, “the core divisions among religious Americans, and particularly Christians, are no longer defined by theological issues. The splits are political” (Donnie Jr.). He believes that everyday citizens specifically Christians, no longer discuss their political affiliation over public policies, but over moral issues. Presently, conservative Catholics, Protestants and Jews oppose Liberal Catholics, Protestants and Jews, unlike years past. The times have shifted from opposing ones political perspective because of their religious affiliation to, opposing someone’s perspective because of the moral view on certain political issues. The separation today from years past is that we have people from the same religious affiliation voting against one another.
On the website “The Pew Forum: On Religion and Public Life” the debate of separation of church and state is exampled by the 2008 presidential candidates. The article states that John McCain is a firm believer that the pledge of allegiance should be allowed in classrooms throughout the nation. Barrack Obama states that the pledge of allegiance in the classroom falls along the lines of a “sense of proportion” and that the pledge of allegiance in classrooms is a conflict between church and state. It is interesting to note that on the issues of this website the first four topics to search involve moral issues. The first topic to find further information is bioethics, followed by the death penalty and then gay marriage. It is interesting to see that on a website such as this the main topics to find further information on is moral questioning issues and not issues involving political polices. I found this website particular relevant because the website is putting moral issues before political policies, reinforcing the notion that moral issues are immensely important than years past. Continuing the debate between the two recent candidates for presidency both are consider themselves Christians, but yet both represent two different political parties. In years past these two candidates may have been involved in the same political party, but in today’s society political affiliation isn’t decided on the same issues as history portrays.
Everyday citizens express their political affiliation with their moral perspectives in life regardless of religious perspectives. On a website called “Broomfield Democrats” the winner of Democrat of the year Kevin Kreeger writes, “Our POLITICAL affiliation is a MORAL decision and reflects our moral code. I have many friends within both major parties and I have friends who are unaffiliated. But, when I meet someone new, I will immediately feel more comfortable if I know that he or she is a Democrat”. This example just rein enforces the notion that today’s political affiliation is associated with morality and not political polices. Each political party argues that their morality on issues is higher than the other regardless if people within the parties are affiliated with the same religion. Conservatives will argue that their beliefs on morality top that of Democrats, but in reality the two parties just have two different perspectives on morals and interpretations of the gospel on morals split many affiliated with a certain religion. In the 2004 election many people believe that George W. Bush won because of moral standings on gay marriage and abortion rights. Some people will go as far to say that Bush won the presidency due to people only voting on morality. I cannot go as far to say that George W. Bush won the presidency due to people voting on morality, but I will state that in recent year’s moral issues has been the deciding factor for our nation’s next president. In the 2008 campaign the nation hungered to hear that Barrack Obama was a Christian and I’m a firm believer that if he did not state that he was, he would have not been elected president.
In the article written by E.J Donnie Jr., he states the reasoning for such a divide among religious or non religious Americans, “THE RELATIONSHIP between the moral and economic crises in our society can be seen most powerfully in families where the need to earn enough income forces both parents to spend increasing amounts of time outside the home”. E.J Donnie Jr. believes that moral separation stems from the amount of time parents spend outside the home. Regardless of opinions the fact still remains, the debate of political polices is old news, today’s society requires a question of morality and upon answering that question leaves one residing in a political party. Democrats for example tend to vote for a woman’s’ right to chose and gay rights. Conservatives tend to vote against those issues, but the difference is that there are people representing the same religion for both sides. Presently, it seems that the religious community is more divided in politics than it has ever been. Is it because of individual interpretation of morality? Is it because of different interpretations of the gospel on political policies? The answer can only found individually and that is why our nation is so split by political affiliation and interpretation of morality.
It’s apparent that evangelicals, Catholics and Jews have sided against one another on political affiliation in recent years, but the reason behind this shift is a very debatable one. I for one reside with a political party because of moral issues because in today’s society it seems that moral issues are more substantial in society than let’s say, more government. The belief of limited government is a fabricated one because our government is one of the largest in the world and to vote conservative to limit government is absurd. Traditional voting because of certain political parties is out dated. Presently, our society demands moral standings in politics especially among the religious community. We as a society have seen a division among religions groups and politics in recent years shifting away from traditional voting. This division is just a sign that our perspective on politics is changing along with interpretation of morality in religion.
