The Role of Religion in Politics

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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...

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... commonly accepted views of Christianity, but he took them further and attacked the Roman Catholic Church for its undesirable habits and tendencies. His arguments called for a change in the system of the Church as well as how and where they express their power. These arguments served to infuriate the clergy of the Church, and to cause some tension between his homeland Bohemia and other surrounding Catholic states, which after his death culminated in the Thirty Years War13. Jan Hus is correct in his belief that religion, as indicated by the gross misuse of power by the Church in his time, his appeal to Biblical and philosophical works, and the years of strife that resulted from a poor mixing of religion and politics. Religion while important in everyday life should remain separate from politics, serving exclusively as a moral guide, and not infringing upon the state.

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