Do Not Trespass

Separation of church and state is not black and white issue, but rather a large grey area that is continuously open for debate. For as long as the United States has been an independent nation from Britain, religion and politics has been a touchy issue. Politicians and clergy members’ alike try to distance the two as much as possible in order to further complicate certain issues. A trespass over these furry boundaries leads to additional problems. Even though church members and politicians pride themselves on this separation, there is definitely an overlap, how could there not be? One might not assume that religion and politics are similar but ironically there are many similarities between the two. Stated in this CNN.com article religion is such a dominate force in the United States, nearly 250 million are Christians. Many argue that the 2004 election was determined by Catholic voters who voted to reelect George W. Bush instead of Senator John Kerry. I had always learned about the separation of church and state through middle and high school, but when I read Stephen Mack’s entry titled “Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellectual” it made me think even deeper on this trespassing over the boundaries, the overlap and how these fundamental ideas shape our nation and culture. It is important to understand the similarities to help one be aware of how they make decisions, specifically political ones, how they relate back to one’s conscience, which stems even farther back to religion.

Political and religious convictions are subjected to your influences, and therefore not innate. These influences include one’s parents or guardians, home life and most importantly one’s environment. These convictions are abstract and but hold a strong value. What is important to note about religion and politics is that one chooses to be a part of this group, it is not forced. Religion and politics involve several groups and broken down into subgroups. These groups are clumped by people who share similar values. Some of these groups that can be categorized for religion such as Christians, Jews, Muslim and Buddhists and politicians may be clumped into say Republicans, Democrats, Liberals and Independents. Even if one person has strong convictions, this one person is only one of many of that group, either political or religious. In addition, both politics and religious affiliations involve taking part, either physically, spiritually, and mentally or a combination. This notion is highlighted in Mack’s work

“Both religion and democracy draw the individual into a larger cosmic or social
order—then define obligations that go along with one’s place in that
order. Both in other words offer a vision of personal identity that is
derived from beliefs about how we should relate to everything around
us”

When thinking about the politics, rules and laws that is encompassed in our society, it’s important to think who put these laws into action. Laws which make up American society are formed and drafted by politicians. These laws reflect politicians’ moral convictions, and whether they believe something to be right or wrong, which involves their personal identity. Laws are reflected on ethics, and these ethics relate back to some moral issues that stem from religion. However, when one is involved in some type of religious institution this religion promotes one’s moral ideas through everyday life. This moral promotion ties decision making, moral development and religion together. Therefore a voters’ moral obligation will come into play when it comes to voting.

What is interesting is that some of the most heated debates facing our nation today involve a mixture of politics and religion. This article underscores important movements such as gay rights and abortion that are more complex than politicians taking one side or another. These topics in some way or another relate directly back to some type of religious authority whether it is the Bible or another religious code. The issue with abortion for example questions whether women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy. Different religions either promote or disagree with such ethical and moral issues and are interpreted by its followers. In addition the issue of gay marriage is facing the legal system today, a moral debate that is prominent in most religions. Once again politicians would vote on this issue in accordance with their moral convictions and what they interpret right from wrong. Both of these issues not only have a political affiliation when it comes to making the laws, but also have some religious affiliation due to people’s conscience. This conscience comes into play when making the decision which involves past experiences and one’s environment.

Religion and politics are ideas that make up an individual. When someone is making a decision upon who to vote for do you think that the person shields their moral convictions in order to make a decision? I think not. Policy makers, government officials and even our President are composed of a political side and a religious side, the extent of the religious side is only understood by that individual. It is impossible to make decisions with only half of your judgment, and not use your moral region that is reflected through the church. Just like you can’t measure how religious someone is, you can’t measure how much of a politician someone is. Just as everyone else is unique this carries over into political and church beliefs. Since our nation is a democracy which is run by the people, there has to be some cross over between politics and church. Individuals are comfortable with themselves which involves their religious and political views yet the idea of mixing church and state gets most people nervous. People get the most offended when one attacks their political stance and their religious issues and this will never change. As long as politics and religion exist, therefore forever, there will always be some type of trespassing over each others territory. Rather than trying to completely separate church and state, our politicians and religious community should learn to accept their similarities and acknowledge their boundaries.