Pantho Tsali

Dr. Aaron Kashtan

UWRT 1102

23 April 2017

Why religion and politics should not mix.

On January 1, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Baptists of Danbury,

the letter said, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people

which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

or prohibit the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and

state. (Traphagan). This created the clause that is known as separation of church and state.

Meaning that religion has no say in the process of lawmaking. However, this has not held true in

American society. America has been a country founded upon freedom. One of the many reasons
people came to America was to practice religious freedom. The United states was born of

religious zeal. Its colonization coincided with, and was fueled by, vast upheavals in Europe that

had been unleashed by the protestant reformation. (Fowler) As a result America quickly became

a religious country mainly found upon Christian values. However, now people are becoming less

and less religious As religion and politics have become entangled, many Americans, especially

younger ones, have pulled away from religion (Campbell) says David Campbell. Even though

The United States was founded upon these values, religion should play no part in politics and

vice versa.

Clearly religion is a huge factor in American society especially Christianity. The phrase

In God We Trust is printed on American currency and often the phrase God Bless America is

used at the end of many political speeches. Campbell states in his article God and Caesar in

America In the nineteenth century, U.S. political parties were divided along sectarian lines:

pietistic versus liturgical, low church versus high church, Protestant versus Catholic parties

were based of different religions compared to today where theyre now defined by religiously

devout conservatives versus secular progressives. (Campbell). As times change and The United

States moves away from that laws cannot be formed around religious beliefs. Religion tends to

appeal to a lot of people despite race or ethnicity. America is known to be an extremely diverse

nation and as a result it tends to house people who have a stronger faith. America is more

religious than Europe because of a high population of immigrants and life also tends to be harder

in America compared to life in Europe. (Barber) Nigel Barber explains that problems such as

health problems and lower life expectancy, to higher crime rates, and relative lack of

involvement in the community. as a result Americans feel far less secure economically, and in

relation to their health and well-being than the overall wealth of the country in terms of GDP per
capita would predict. This existential insecurity provides a fertile ground for religion. (Barber)

Unfortunately politicians use religious rhetoric to pull in more supporters. This is negative

because supporters may support said politicians based of their religious beliefs rather than their

social and economic beliefs. This can lead to a clear majority of citizens underrepresented

because of a religious vote rather than a logical vote. Typically, immigrants and those in poverty

are more religious and the side that typically weaves religion into their politics are Republicans.

(Barber) With churches advertising messages like Work Hard, Trust in God, Vote Republican.

Its clear which side favors religion. (Wald) Nigel Barber further states that The religious

propensities of immigrants mean that they are receptive to the conservative religious message

and can be induced to vote across class lines. In doing so they support an agenda that favors the

wealthy and makes them even poorer. Campbell writes The connection between religiosity and

political conservatism has become so deeply embedded in contemporary U.S. culture that it is

startling to recall just how new the alignment is. (Campbell) This results in even more

socioeconomic issues that can really damage the progression of a society. An effect of

republicans using religion as part of their platform Democrats are forced to emphasize their own

religious credential in order to avoid losing part of that poor demographic. (Barber) This affects

campaigns and can push away another demographic that is not as religious worried that their

candidate may make decisions based on religion.

Although it is great that America has religious freedom sometimes it can affect the

lawmaking process and hold back the development of a country. In an article written by Nigel

Barber he states For a developed country, the U.S. is extraordinarily high on religion. Thus, 65

percent of Americans say that religion is important in their daily lives compared to just 17

percent of Swedes, 19 percent of Danes, and 24 percent of Japanese. (Barber) Clearly

developed nations are a lot less religious than less developed nations. To be able to progress and

develop as a society it is better to leave behind conservative or traditional ideas that make for

unhealthy social laws justified by religion. There are many social debates that cannot be

effectively debated because people will use religion as their only argument against or for a topic.

Its mainly used to excuse themselves from having to justify their stance on the subject. This

immediately shuts down any argument from the opposing side and nulls the possibility of there

being an understanding between the two parties. While this method maybe acceptable in

normal conversation between two people; It has no place in politics. Unfortunately, it is, and is

used in debates for things such as gay marriage. Same sex relationships are forbidden in most

religions and for a long time same-sex marriage was illegal until it was legalized back in 2015

under president Obama. There were many conflicts with the legalization of it because of

religious beliefs. People like Kim Davis refused to marry same sex couples because of her values

as a Christian. (Hammond) There is a huge problem with hypocrisy and Americas claim to

freedom of religion. Traphagan states in his article Jefferson was committed to this separation

because he had little faith in the capacity of a government run or even influenced by religious

leaders to protect individual rights and ensure liberty for all. (Traphagan) Although people are

able to practice any religion that they want the laws or politics are always from a branch of

Christianity. If they came from another religion lets say Islam for example. It would be torn

down immediately for the reason of separation of church and state. Republicans usually want to

keep religion in politics if its their own religion rather than anothers because of this if they are

able to pass or restrict things because of religion it basically punishes the people who dont

follow that religion. There are simply too many different religions within the United States for a
government to impose laws based off religious beliefs. That ends up alienating and splitting up

countries citizens creating strife and conflict within that country.

Separating religion and politics not only protects political decisions but it also protects

religion itself. As religion become more partisan it pushes people away from both parties.

(Campbell) Creating an extreme for politics and beliefs will eventually bring the end of a

religion and that is evident today as more and more people are claiming to have no religious

affiliation. (Campbell) This number directly correlates with the recent trend of Democrats being

more secular and Republicans being more devout. (Campbell) When people begin to mix

religion and politics it creates a big risk and takes away from the values taught by religions.

Religion in its base form is a good thing. It provides a good set of morals to live by and teaches

valuable life lessons. However, there is a point in which society needs to leave some of that

behind as we evolve and progress. If you intertwine politics and religion too much the line

between the two starts to fade and government could have the power to regulate religion

destroying one of The United States most core values which is freedom of religion. Government

involvement in religion is just as bad as religious involvement in politics.

 Although the united states were founded because of people seeking religious

freedom it has quickly turned into a nation trying to impose laws based off Christian values. With

first world countries continuing to develop and leave religion behind, The United States

continues to keep these values and lag behind as a result. Involving religion into politics punishes

those who dont practice said religion and creates strife in a society. Some will try and argue that

there is a balance to be found between the two but it simply is not possible if you want to keep

the two from interfering with each other.

 Works Cited
Barber, Nigel. "Why Religion Rules American Politics." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 July 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
Campbell, David E., and Robert D. Putnam. "God and Caesar in America." Foreign Affairs. N.p.,
15 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
Fowler, Robert Booth. Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices.
New York: Westview, 2014. Print.
Hammond, Barbara. "Politics and Religion Should NOT Mix." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Sept. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
Traphagan, John W. "Keeping Church and State Separate." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
Wald, Kenneth D., and Allison Calhoun-Brown. Religion and Politics in the United States.
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Print.