Keep_Your_Religion_Out_of_My_Government

Keep Your Religion Out of My Government "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Now these words are a little more personal to religion considering they have been responsible for more wars then anything else on this planet. So, why would we want something like that, not only involved, but controlling the people and policies that run our country' Because it gives us a crutch to lean on when were feeling down' Suck it up and deal with your problems like every person has to. Religion in its purist form was a legitimate idea in the sense of promoting peace and prosperity, but lets face it, not only has it deviated from its original course, but it has been the biggest impetus behind the death of millions if not billions of people. However one should look at where this atrocity came from and try to understand it roots before diving into the numerous problems it has amassed over the 5000 years it has been on this planet. The original religions can be broken up into three categories. The first would be a polytheistic religion. Translated literally, it means belief of more than one god, which is exactly what it was. Some of the first advanced civilizations used this type of religion. Places like Egypt, Rome, and Greece are all great examples. Grecians prayed to gods for everything. They had the god Poseidon that they prayed to for storms and weather in order to have a peaceful and safe voyage on the ocean. Egypt had the god Ra, who was the patron of the sun, heaven, kingship, power, and light. Some theologians have the idea that believing in multiple gods came from past experiences. the advancement of polytheism is found typically through one nation conquering another. Once they take over, they typically forbid the current religion. When Rome conquered Greece, they forbade the Grecians from practicing their beliefs in Gods such as Zeus and Hades. However, there are a lot of similarities between the majority of these cultures. The Roman god of war, Mars who the Romans prayed to before battle is known in the Greek culture as Ares. They are one in the same, serving the same purpose in two different cultures. The second type is called Pantheism. Literally translated, it means the universe is god. So everything you see around you is a part of god. A lot of the eastern cultures had pantheistic based religions. Buddhism is considered in this category because of their strong ties to the earth and respect for nature. Buddhism originated in Bodhgaya, India at around 580 BCE. It came from the teachings of a man named Gautama Buddha. “Gautam Buddha preached Four Noble Truths that form the basis of Buddhism: Life is full of suffering (dukkha); Suffering is caused by desire and craving; One can be free from this suffering by removing desire and craving; The way to eliminate desire and to get free from the cycle of birth and death is by following the Eight-Fold Path. A lot of people who consider themselves non-religious or are against religion, when forced to choose, will go with these types since there is no higher being aspect to them, just a spiritual connection to the world we live in and the planet we live on. The third and last type is easily the most popular among the three, Monotheism. This is the belief in one singular god. It is found in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In the Christian religion, some consider Jesus Christ to be god, and others consider him to be the son of God. It was founded 2000 years ago, by Jesus, when he built off the Jewish people’s sacred book the Torah, and added what is referred to as the New Testament. From the original Christian religion, numerous different sects have formed and been established into everyday culture including the Catholics, the Protestants, and even the Mormons. In the Jewish religion, there is one God and only one. He goes by Elohim or Adonai, and has passed down the commandments in which the Jews must follow, loosely. The Jewish religion has been on this plant for over 5000 years, 5770 to be exact. In Islam you have the God Allah and you have the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad is a scared prophet for not only does he deliver the word of god but established the religion itself in 622 CE. These three religions were at one point the most dominant religions on the face of the earth, however a survey done by USA Today shows some different results in America. “ Baptists claim 15.8% of the population which is only second to Catholics which take up 25.1% of the population.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-american-religion-ARIS_N.htm) On July 4th, 1776, a group of men had an idea. They were tired of being pushed down, not getting representation, and having to pay for another king’s mistakes. So they decided to act or their guts and on their morals. By doing so, they produced one of the most famous pieces of literature ever written, The Declaration of Independence. In this, they listed every single way they had been misused, unfairly treated, and pretty much treated with a complete lack of respect and consideration as human beings. They demanded that it be sent to the King of England, at that they were no longer members of the British Colonies. This entire conflict had been a fight in the making ever since the beginning, simply because at that point, the British looked at us as lesser beings. Everything was going fine and dandy, until the French – Indian War. When the British first began taxing America, the people were not happy, but they pushed on figuring, “don’t upset the established order.” The British then increased the taxes, which lead to the inevitable Revolutionary War, where American won not only their land, but also their freedom.               The original framers now had a gargantuan task ahead of them in how to shape and form this new country. They all agreed that one person with all the power was a terrible idea, for they had just broken away from that very thing. They wrote another famous document; in fact it is the single most important document in the United States, the Constitution. “This put on paper that every American was free, and he or she had their certain “inalienable rights” that could not be taken away from any sort of government” (Constitution). This ensured each and every person safety; accept of course women, minority, gay, handicapped, or anything other than the first class white citizen. We put those laws in after long, hard battles however some are still not treated equally today.               The Framers also had ideas to keep any person or organization from getting to much power. They created 3 separate branches for our government. The judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch are the ruling and officiating powers of America. The Judicial branch consists of all the courts in America. A case can move from court level to court level eventually reaching the Supreme Court located in Washington D.C. This is the highest court in the land. They are the power behind the judicial branch. They decide on everything from specific cases, to deciding whether or not something is constitutional. Their ruling on a topic is final. The next branch is the legislative branch, which consists of The U.S. Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate.) These two work together to pass laws that the president makes as well as pass each other’s laws. Finally there is the Executive branch. This more or less is the President of the United States. His job is to run our country. Now if all three of these branches were separate of each other, than there would be chaos, which is why the framers built in a system of checks and balances. Each branch can stop another from gaining to much power, without taking too much for themselves. The President can appoint judges the court and write bills to be passed by congress, and can veto bills passed by congress. Congress can overturn a veto with a two-thirds majority vote, and have to approve on the President’s selection for judges as well as control the budget. They also pass bills into law and can recommend either the President or any of the Justices for impeachment. The Supreme Court can rule any law passed by Congress and acts made by the President, unconstitutional. In America, for now, we are lucky enough to enjoy these privileges, however back In 1063 people were not as fortunate. Pope Alexander II had given his blessing to Iberian Christians in their wars against the Muslims, granting both a papal standard and an indulgence to those who were killed in battle. So in case you missing the point, The Pope at the time, Pope Alexander II gave his blessing, which in laymen’s terms means that he declared war on the Muslim empires. This is perfect example of someone that is not elected by the majority of a country having the dictating power for that country. The Pope has no accountability and answers to know one except “god.” The problem, if god does not exist, then he is making “god’s will” his own will. A more modern example of this is Iran. Their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is pretty much a puppet of the Religious fanatic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mahmoud preaches to this country, that Israel has no rights as a country, and that the Holocaust, where 11 million people died, never took place. This is what occurs when religion gets its slimy fingers into governments and politics. When this country was founded 233 years ago, they did it because they had been repressed by the British government, not for any religious reasons. However, exercising your religious views came with that freedom, and that is something I am completely okay with, because in America, you have freedom, but it must be represented both ways. It was not founded for religion or even on religion. Yet when we go to vote every four years in November, we look at their policies, their party alignment, and their religion as though it is supposed to say something about the way they are going to run our country. The idea of separating church and state was certainly the right one, and I’m glad Thomas Jefferson thought of it all those years ago. In a article I read a couple months ago, a journalist pointed out that politicians in modern times try to emphasize religion a lot more then they used to, “The politics of human rights, like the idea of individual freedom, were born not in religion but in the Enlightenment struggle against it. When Thomas Jefferson located "inalienable rights" in an endowment from the Creator, he was decidedly speaking from outside the mainstream of any denominational faith. Jefferson's point was not to affirm God, but to deny King George” (www.boston.com/bostonglobe/) One thing I have never understood is the lack of respect and all around recognition that secular people receive. In our country, the two most populated religions are Catholics and Baptists, however the next majority is not Judaism, Christianity or even Islam, its people that claim no religion. So why then are they treated like they are non-existent' In an article on this very topic, writer Austin Cline fuels the fire by writing, “They insist that secular Americans must give special deference and respect to religious authorities simply because those authorities are religious and have had religious training in some religious tradition.” “As far as I am concerned, specialized training at a Methodist or Baptist seminary imbues a person with no more authority on general political, ethical, and social matters than specialized training that leads to an advanced degree in art history or economics.” (www.atheism.about.com) At one of the biggest days in politics, the Presidential inauguration, people from every “respected” religion spoke at it, except for anyone from any sort of secular denomination. This just epitomizes our countries maligned priorities. They did not let everyone speak why' Because the idea of what they believe might upset some people. That is a cop out and anyone who was responsible for scheduling knows it. To me as a secular believer, not being recognized does not really bother me. It’s the realization that there are powerful people in this nation that are trying to have religion get a power grip on politics. Being that I am secular, this scares me because those that have religious incentive are not going to be thinking rationally. If they follow religion to the letter, then that means two things right off the bat, one that their logic is going to be amiss, because there is no way that they can claim the validity of mordern theistic beliefs and still claim to be a rational thinkers. Second, that they believe blindly which is certainly not a characteristic you want someone who runs a country to have. Their “faith” is what bothers me. They put their all into what religion tells them to do, but no one knows in religion if what they are saying is true. Pastors preach about being good and making it to heaven, but there is no way they can actually know. My other problem is when religion are those who follow it believe that they are entitled to be involved in the politics of our country based off of some backwards belief that god and religion were the inspiration behind the development of politics and the democracy of our country. William Miles, a writer for Third World Quarterly said, “This paradigm does not mean that politics which is truly religious in inspiration need be peaceful or non-violent, while conflict in the name of religion must be para-theological” (Miles 533). Now he thinks that if it were not for religion, we as a society would not have been able to put together the idea that killing each other is bad, so we should make laws against it. If you believe that, then there is no length or extent of nonsense that you will continue to believe. Here in lies my predicament. No one knows, yet we have preachers and figure heads of faiths all over the planet claiming they do. When we have government officials listening to what they are saying, then those officals must be removed. Recently, Bill Maher interviewed Arkansas Governor Mark Pryor, “Bill Maher: You're a senator. It worries me that people are running my country who believe in a talking snake. Senator: You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate though” (Religulous). This is the exact thought that scares me the most. The Framers, I believe, were some of the most rational minded people to ever walk this earth, which is why they knew the effect that religion can and does have. It takes a typically rational minded person, and makes them believe things that just cannot be true, which is fine, just keep them and their ideals out of the government. I strongly believe that religion should be completely banned and thrown out from any aspect relating to government. Let the President be voted on by morals and policies, not by what church they pray at, or what religious person leads their congregation. This is a necessity for the American people, and needs to be acted upon now, because if we do not, the result will be that of Iran, a country who is headed by a Supreme Leader, but lead by a religious fanatic, one who will kill anyone who opposes his word. Would you like to live in that world' Because if we do not act now, that is the reality for America. Works Citied Barton, David. "Separation of Church and State." Wallbuilders. Jan. 2001. Web. 19 Sept. 2009. . Carroll, James. "The politics of religion in America." The Boston Globe. 17 Dec. 2007. Web. 19 Sept. 2009. . Cline, Austin. "Against Religion in Government." About.com. 1 Mar. 2009. Web. 1 Sept. 2009. . Grossman, Cathy L. "Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds." USA Today 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2009. . Miles, William F.S. "Political para-theology: rethinking religion, politics and democracy." Third World Quarterly Sept 17.3 (96): 525-35. Print. Religulous. Dir. Larry Charles. Perf. Bill Maher. Film. Lionsgate, 2008 Thomas, Alfred J. "Buddhism." 19 Mar. 1999. 29 May 2009 . Unknown. "Polytheism - Modern World." 5 May 2002. 28 May 2009 .