Is Religion and politics a
destructive mixture for our Country? Many people believe religion should not be
associated with any form of politics, and others believe our current political situation
is doing just fine. At the moment, I am very partial between the two; on one
hand I believe religion adds to the “culture wars” and causes Americans to see
each other as different people, causing resentment for the other side. And on
the other hand, I believe government should be left alone, and keep the
foundation of our country with the same intent the founding fathers had in
mind.
I think
religion is dividing this country apart, the positions liberals and
conservatives have is the main culprit behind this division. In general,
liberals feel conservatives are trying to implement their religious principles,
turning our Country into a form of theocracy. While conservatives feel liberals
are trying to abolish God from the public domain, thus imposing atheist views
on this country. These issues of religion and faith are difficult to settle
because they only drive both sides further and further apart. But at the same
time, politics and religion are not essentially a destructive mixture. I
personally believe the presence of religion in our current political system
should not be touched. In several examples that include religious associations
such as “in god we trust” found on our currency or “one nation under God” heard
in the pledge of allegiance does not specify any one religion, but addresses
religion in a general matter, by “God”. I believe these associations enforce our
freedoms we have in America and our right to practice whatever we please.
Walker - This looks like that starter to a good discussion (one that could go on forever). I like the point you brought up at the end about how our money and pledge of allegiance do not specify any god in specific. I've never thought of that that way before.
ReplyDeleteReligion does seem to have a dividing effect on our country. Maybe perhaps instead of identifying groups with certain religious affiliations, each interpreting their own God's ideas and placing them into politics, we should have a system much like Saint Augustine's approach to reading scripture. Two rules: Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself. But I guess, just as you can correctly interpret a scripture passage in many ways, each group would have different interpretations of law and religion. I guess then we'd have to decide which one is the most right.