Religion and Politics (just shoot me now please before I open my mouth)

Should religion matter in regard to presidential candidates? One person’s view is this…”no, I want competence first and a separation of church and state.”

I’m going to attempt to explain my thoughts on this subject. Most likely, you’re not going to find a lot of facts, dates, or name dropping here. You know me…this is just my opinion. And to qualify who “I” am, I will tell you that: I am an under 40 female, married with children, Christian who considers herself to be socially and culturally liberal and concerned above all things mostly with the rights of Americans as individuals and I try not to have myself associated too closely with one political group or religious group as you will find in knowing me that I live, work and play in the gray a lot and find that I cannot agree largely with any one group of people. When all people want to do is talk about the extreme…the religious right or the bleeding heart liberals…you may sometimes find me somewhere in between, but most likely you will find me off in a corner, talking about something of more importance.

What is religion? In the US, most think of religion as “church”. A place where people go who believe in Jesus and/or God. But in truth, religion is not church. It is a term to describe having a belief system. That belief system does not have to necessarily represent that of a God fearing group of people.

What is politics really? Simply put, politics is the exercise of public service. And “public” includes all people of the US. Those who believe in God and those who don’t.

We’ve been practicing, quite successfully I think, the separation of Church and State for a long time. This works well because one does not have control over the other. And why would we want one to have control over the other? Both religion and politics are complex and perplexing systems. But that does not, however, mean that one does not and should not have any interest in the other. Someone who considers themselves to have a belief system such as religion, probably believe that it is the fabric of their life.

But why are Americans paying so much attention to a political candidate’s religious affiliation? Psychologists tell us that one of our greatest human needs is to “belong”. When we are part of a belief system and we “belong”, we tend to want to vote for someone who “belongs” with us. I think its human nature. And I think that explains “why” it is happening if I had to make a very simple statement of “why”.

But the above question is “should” religion matter in regard to presidential candidates? Wow, okay, my answer…well, I would say it can matter. But I don’t think I can say it should matter. Not in the way of whether or not a candidate shares my religion it shouldn't but it should matter if a candidate has religion. It should matter if they have it because as I stated above, religion is a belief system and our idea of right and wrong need to come from somewhere. And its been coming from a belief system for a long time and it is a good foundation. I would say that it can carry some influence in my decision but at the same time, it can’t be the first and primary consideration in my vote. Why? I’m going to slip into the gray here…follow along…because…I am not my church. I am an American who loves God. And that is as simply as I can put it. I can’t let my church, the religious right, democrats or republicans or anyone for that matter speak for me. If a candidate has my same religious views, I may find that that candidate speaks to me because it is telling me that he has similar beliefs, but no one can speak for me. And although I have the same human needs as everyone else, I won’t vote for someone just to feel comfortable and to feel like I belong.

I also wish that politicians would stop lumping me in with the religious right just because I have a belief system. Most of us don't fall into that category. And our founding fathers, although Christian they were, were NOT the religious right.