Religion has always been an important part of America and America’s history, from the time the pilgrims travelled from their homelands, to now. Religion, especially Christianity, is a prominent force guiding nearly all aspects of American life. Religion is involved in societal issues, economics, and politics. Often times, it is a dominant factor in politics and can eliminate someone from any chance of a political career or it could have the opposite effect and boost someone to the top in politics. People often vote for candidates who will best represent them and if constituents want someone who is similar to them and feel will protect their religious liberties, they will likely vote for them as opposed to other candidates. This has caused a rift in America as of late because it appears as though there is a growing difference in opinions and mindsets of people across party lines. Due to this rift, democrats relate more to a liberal ideology whereas republicans are more conservative. Republicans have generally been more focused on candidates’ religion as opposed to democrats. Conservative republican focus on religion has hurt Obama in his support from church goers because they want a president in Washington who lives their life like many think a Christian should. Support for Obama among Christians has been mixed.
A liberal is generally defined as someone who looks more to themselves and their personal knowledge when deciding what is right or wrong. They would rather be free to experience life on their own and not be dependent on an external authority when making decisions. Conservatives however generally tend to live more traditionally, which means that they would rather continue living in a way that is similar to how past generatio...
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...onflicts after the September eleventh attacks on the twin towers in New York City, which led to wars. The attacks on American land intensified Christian distrust and prejudice against Islam. Lastly, Christians would not trust Obama if he came out as a Muslim because during the presidential race he declared himself a Christian and if that was found out to be not true, that would mean that a major position that the president ran on was false and would lead people to not trust him more than they previously had. Also, a small portion of the American population has spread the narrative that Obama is a Muslim. And since the September eleventh attacks, some Americans have held a negative stereotype of people of the Islamic faith. Since they look at Islam and associate it with terrorism, those who believe that Obama could possibly be a Muslim are wary about trusting him.
Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively uncontested, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who advocates for governmental solutions to various problems, not for unaided individual freedom. Liberals today trust and call for governmental action, not for the type of self-determination supported by Hoover. Contemporary liberals believe in individual freedom, but they typically advocate f...
Liberalism is an ideology which advocates equality of opportunity for all within the framework of a system of laws. It includes a belief in government as an institution whose primary function is to define and enforce the laws. Furthermore, a Constitution, must be developed not solely by one ruler but by representatives of the elite groups. Therefore, liberalism invariably involves a belief in the need for legislative bodies which represent the influential groups. The Constitution then defines ...
The typical philosophical ideals of the liberals seem to focus on the government helping the little guy and leveling the playing field. They oppose tax cuts for the rich, they are distrustful of big-business and those who are wealthy. They like government programs that help minorities and those with lower incomes. They want to raise the minimum wage, provide better national healthcare and provide better unemployment and welfare coverage’s. They nearly always side with unions over management, the guy who sues the big business.
Civic stances are generally broken down into three categories: liberal, conservative, and libertarian. A liberal is someone who is not narrow in his or her opinions or judgments. A conservative is someone who is disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions. And finally a libertarian is someone who upholds the principles of unrestricted liberty. Of the three, liberalism is a better stance because it is better to have an open mind when forming opinions and making judgments, especially in politics liberalism is a better stance to take than conservatism and libertarianism.
Religion has ingrained itself into mainstream American politics. The current Reform Party and many portions of the Republican party platforms evidence this.
The message of political alignment is a vast and varying concept, one that will be debated for as a long as party divisions exist. This divide however exists in not just the Christian community. We begin with the metaphor of a shepherds flock, blindly following what an individual says over ones own thinking. Boyd furthers this concept of alignment and how “many who left sincerely believe there is little ambiguity in how true Christian faith translates into politics. Since God is against abortion, Christians should vote for the pro-life candidate, they believe- and the preacher should say so” (Boyd 2). This blind adherence to one topic, one issue is unfortunately a failure on an intellectual level of all people, whether Christian or not. The
Liberals usually have the perspective that the government should help the people much more than they do presently, with more programs such as welfare (etc.). Liberals generally agree that the government should intervene, regulate, and promote the economy and ensure fairness in society always. Government policies are indeed needed and necessary for citizens to fulfill their daily needs. Most also do agree with a "free-market" society, however, they stress the need for government policies.
A report by Pew Research last year showed, “The majority of Americans would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who doesn 't believe in God. Unsurprisingly, this is higher among Republicans – 70 per cent of whom would be less likely to vote for an atheist, in comparison with 42 per cent of Democrats” (Christian today). These statistics show that faith really does matter when voting for the next president. All of the individuals running in this year’s presidential election either identify with the Protestant or Catholic faith. These different faiths effect the presidential candidates’ views on abortion, taxes, gay marriage, etc. As the Christian Church and presidential election relate it is important to remember your standards and views, when considering who to vote for. The current presidential election will test the strength that the Christian Church still has in America. “America 's faith and culture leaders agree that what makes 2016 possibly the most important election in American history is not the severities of its socioeconomic problems, but rather the depth of spiritual decay into which the American people have fallen (Christian
Throughout our history there has been an ongoing argument between religion and government. Should religion play a part in the government, schools and other social compasses or should it be separated? Some believe that religion should be a part of the government while others believe that there should be a distinct separation. Some believe that religions should be able to influence the workings of the government and attempt to elect their own politicians. I believe the opposite. I believe that religion should have no influence on the way our government approves laws, elects officials or conducts their business. Throughout this essay I will give reasons and references as to why I agree with the separation of government and religion.
Liberalism is an ideology and due to the changing views of historical persons, who have each viewed themselves to be Liberals, is difficult to define precisely. There are five agreed defining tenants of Liberalism. The most important of these, percolating through the ideology, is the ‘Importance of the Individual’, and closely interlinked with this is ‘Freedom’, which leads on to the concept of ‘Individual Freedom or liberty’. Liberals believe that humankind is a rational species, and thus ‘Reason’ is a third tenant. Furthermore Liberalism advocates that the principle of ‘Justice’ and Toleration’ are fundamental in the well being of society and each of these aspects relates directly back to the quintessential first tenant. Liberalism, according to Habermas “emphasizes individual freedom from restraint and is usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard; c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.” As an individualist, rather than a collectivist ideology the individual is placed as the building block of society. J. S. Mill says ...
A major problem in our government right now is the influence that religion has over government laws in the states and the country. Government and religion must always be separate due to the fact that there are multiple religions in the United States and that religious influence favors one over the other and influences laws that can be placed over the people. A major issue of religion and state is same-sex marriage which due to religious rules mainly form Christianity, forbids the act and the influence Christianity has on the States is evident to why it is illegal in more than 50% of the states in America. Another issue is the dealing with Abortion though government rules that this is legal religions tell the people that this is wrong and illegal which are another example of religion attempting to influence government decisions. The religious influence in Government can be eliminated by disallowing the teachings of a religion to directly affect a religious preference or law, to differentiate between religious marriage and state recognized marriage, and to make sure that religious influence does not affect the choosing of government candidates.
Integrating Faith and politics can be difficult. Arguments can be made for whether to have complete separation of faith and politics, or to fully integrate the two. A balanced middle-ground between separation and integration can be looked at also. Examples of each can be looked at in history. Complete separation of faith and politics has consequences (both positive and negative). Government that is separated from faith can be efficient, but very inhumane and controlling. Complete integration of faith and politics is influenced by God and the Bible, but it can be just as controlling as complete separation. Multiple disagreements in the Christian doctrine would also cause more challenges in the government. Having a middle ground where only some aspects of the government are influenced by religion can pose problems in certain areas. The middle ground could allow Christians to spread the Gospel (which is the goal of the church). When these three options are compared, one may see an option stand out as an obvious choice. The middle ground between separation and integration is where the church can both stay relevant in politics and participate in the great commission.
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
Liberal is defined as "one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways." (Webster's dictionary) A conservative is defined as "one who adheres to traditional methods or views." (Webster's dictionary) The definition of these words have changed throughout history. A liberal in older days was not what one would be today; they were considered a person whom sought to use change, while a conservative is one who opposed change. The differences between a liberal and a conservative is a wide gap that focuses upon the fundamental beliefs of those within each group.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...