Just a quick thought, there are so many people who are freaked out about faith in politics. All politicians act upon some set of beliefs. Many worship at the throne of re-election. Some are focused upon the success of their political party. Still others are single issue ideologues. So why is it that the idea that someone would act on a belief system that is theo-centric difficult for some to swallow?
A humanist acts upon belief in the human race. An atheist acts on the belief that there is no tomorrow. Animal rights activists believe that animals deserve the same rights as humans and act upon that belief. So to say that a Christian shouldn't let their beliefs influence their politics is simply prejudicial.
Voting would be a lot easier if we knew what someone believed and could trust they would live that in office.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Faith and Politics
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I have a couple of reasons I get "freaked" out about faith in politics. First and foremost, some of the most bloody wars have been fought all in the name of religion. Of course for a country to go to war, I would like it to be for something as passionate as religion, but it tends to be an individual's interpretation of that religion to the exclusion of all other interpretations and conversations on the subjects. There are some interpretations of scriptures that I really do not think are correct, and if they are, I just can't believe them.
So if you go back to the founding fathers who studied those wars and saw the Puritan excesses in Massachusetts as well as the Catholic excesses in Maryland in their own colonies, I tend to understand their concerns with keeping religion out of government.
Now, I realize there are some common values and morals most of the major religions share and that is where the common ground discussions could begin. Most religions do not condone murder, taking what is not yours and being kind and respectful to others. The extremes on both sides make me nervous with it comes to political power, which takes me back to your point, of which I agree.
Politicians all worship at the alter of re-election. Those in power want to remain in power and will do whatever it takes to remain in power. So what do the politician really believe in? Theology or lies we want to hear?
Then I start worrying that maybe Karl Marx was right, that religion is just the opiate of the masses. But, I figured Jesus made those in power really, really nervous, after all, why put a man who really didn't do anything wrong to death? So I am going to try and judge a man/woman by their actions on a period of time, rather than a sound bite on the news.
Post a Comment