“Religion and Politics”…A Toxic Mix

This post is a paraphrase of something I had recently read.  It was the most rational, well thought out viewpoint on religion & politics I had ever heard.  It is my desire that after you read this you, too, will come away with a more logical understanding.

Attempting to mix religion with politics is the wrong way to serve God and the people.  First because religion is a discipline of faith that has nothing to do with the material needs of a city and country, and politics is a science concerned with the objective reality of a people and not with their spiritual beliefs.

For some Christians this may sound like a good idea, but for the beneficiaries of this political ruse, it is nothing other than good business, something that does not necessarily favor the Christians.

Voting according to this religious orientation has cost the country more than three trillion dollars in an endless war in Iraq, the deaths of more then four thousand American soldiers (about 1000 more than died in Sept 11), and the almost complete collapse of its economy.  It has cost Iraq tens of thousands of lives and the destruction of the country and its future.

Historically, one of the causes of the Arab nations’ misfortunes is precisely the mixing of politics and Islam.  They have tried to run their countries with the teachings of Mohammad, at times administering their faith with political interest, which degenerates into an eventual plundering of the public purse, and in other instances administering their political interests using the Islamic faith, which has led to fanaticism and backwardness.

Americans should understand that a politician is not elected as president in order to lead a church or to impart doctrines of faith.  A politician is elected in order to govern, and governing means managing the administrative apparatus of the State to meet the material needs of its citizens, while the spiritual leaders of the country are purely religious leaders.  Those who are good Christians are not necessarily good at governing, and those who govern well are not necessarily good Christians.

I hope that the USA will not fall into the same trap as some of the Arab nations.

It appears that all the bickering back and forth has done exactly what it’s intended to accomplish…create chaos, suspicion and mistrust within our own camp.   As long as people are caught up with trying to “one up each other”…nothing will change. Nobody can drive forward while looking in the rear view mirror.

Michelle