Religion and Politics
Both liberals and conservatives have become quite adept at mixing
religion and politics in our current society. One also continues to
observe an ongoing practice of civil religion demonstrated by
presidents and office-seekers on both the left and right. Generally,
the leftist merger of religion and politics has received greater
social acceptability because it has been cloaked in such rights'
causes as civil rights, women's rights, or economic rights (the social
distribution of wealth). The advocating of these rights issues have
provided an appearance of transcending religion, keeping the left
relatively free from criticism of any church and state overlap.
Christian Conservatives, however, have found it more difficult to
reasonably combine faith and politics because they have more overtly
recognized that their political positions are grounded on faith
assumptions. This has resulted in numerous attacks by both
non-Christians and Christians alike against the conservative attempt
to merge religion and politics. Three arguments have been used most
frequently against the conservative mixture of religion and politics.
In what follows each of these arguments is stated and then refuted.
The first argument is that politics is too worldly. The essence of the
argument is that politics is part of this world's system, and Christ
clearly taught His followers to "love not the world," and to flee from
worldly activities. There is a danger of becoming caught up in th...
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...hermore, in the Bible there is much political activity by
God's servants. The judges and kings ruled under God. The prophets and
Moses were quite political. Daniel served in the civil governments of
Babylon and Persia. Joseph governed in Egypt. The Apostles spoke of
following God's rules rather than men's.
In conclusion, to be obedient to Christ requires political activity.
Jesus is quite clear about the need to overcome social injustices. If
Christ tells us to confront the forces of evil, but society tells us
not to, and even makes a law against bringing religion into politics,
then who should we follow, the state or Christ? In the broadest sense,
we are called to political activity because we are responsible to
apply Christian principles and standards to all areas of our society,
and politics is one of these areas.
To begin with, it must be remembered that Catholic culture and Catholic faith, while mutually supportive and symbiotic, are not the same thing. Mr. Walker Percy, in his Lost in the Cosmos, explored the difference, and pointed out that, culturally, Catholics in Cleveland are much more Protestant than Presbyterians in say, Taos, New Orleans, or the South of France. Erik, Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, points out that the effects of this dichotomy upon politics, attributing the multi-party system in Catholic countries to the Catholic adherence to absolutes; he further ascribes the two-party system to the Protestant willingness to compromise. However this may be, it does point up a constant element in Catholic thought---the pursuit of the absolute.
“But you must admit, Pastor, that not every decree in the Bible makes sense in this day and age.” “Only because you [Moretti] are taking the verses out of historical context-“ “Mr. Lincoln,” Angela Moretti says flatly. “You did first.” (Sing You Home p.388)
Shuttleworth’s analysis of the current political situation illustrates the danger of Brady’s dogmatism, proving how the media’s portrayal of polarization between religious extremists and fundamental scientists can drive a lack of compromise between each group. While it is obvious that not every person on either side of this schism is dogmatic, extremist views have caused ripple effects throughout modern society. One of the most notable areas in which dogmatism within religion had lasting implications can be found by analyzing the election. According to Christiana Forrester, a reporter for the Huffington
Religion has ingrained itself into mainstream American politics. The current Reform Party and many portions of the Republican party platforms evidence this.
I sincerely hope my intentions in writing this message will not be misunderstood. Jesus was not a political figure, and I am not attempting to present Him in that manner. Nonetheless, the Bible does tell us that civil government is to be an instrument of God in bringing order to society (see Romans 13), and in order for it to accomplish this, it is important that it be modeled after the message and example of Jesus.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
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
Christian Influence on the Progress of American Society. Charissa Bogner, Korissa Murphy, and Britni Killingsworth. Throughout history, standing up for our rights has been a big part of America’s growth in regards to women’s rights, segregation, taxation, religion.etc. However, with the expansion of America over the last few hundred years, Americans have gone from respecting others’ point-of-views to being offended when those point-of-views that differ are shared. “We often hear it said that ‘if your religious beliefs work for you, that’s great, but don’t impose them on others’”.
Christianity and Politics The descriptions of the Roman Empire and state authority offered in Christian texts seems to be one that is oppressive. Since the state often punished Christians for disturbing the peace, the Empire is often shown as merciless and callous. However, texts seem to suggest that the Empire did not treat Christians any differently from the other citizens of the state. Christianity in itself was not illegal under Roman law, so Christians were not targeted specifically as a group.
I vividly remember sitting in my ninth grade world history class, only six short years ago, when my teacher announced that next week we would begin a four week study on world religions. A nervous murmur swept through thirty students, all thinking the
One thing that many Americans do not realize is how much religion plays a role in American lives, and how it has played a role in our presidents lives from the very beginning of our country to now
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.
In the 18th century to 19th century, there were many great influential leaders of Christianity that influenced many individuals belief systems. During this time period three great movements included the relevance of liberalism, Neo-orthodoxy, and Evangelical views. These views in particular had great influence over how individuals applied biblical scripture to their everyday life.
Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. Well over 90% of the world 's population adheres to some form of religion. The problem is that there are so many different religions. What is the right religion? What is true religion? The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, dos and don 'ts, which a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion, and thereby, right with the God of that religion. Two examples of rules-based religions are Islam and Judaism. Islam has its five pillars that must be observed.
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...