Religion and Politics – Strikingly similar, or vastly different? October 10, 2008
Posted by Jay in political issues.trackback
Essentially, from the beginning of codified time, the two largest influences on the general public have undoubtedly been politics and religion. In many cases, these two influences worked together hand and hand, dominating the laws and rules of the given territory. Both have brutal histories of war, tyranny, and unjustified means of unmet ends. Many people harp and protest for the consistent separation between church and state. While most people refer to the first amendment to the constitution in legal/policy making matters, I am going to suggest to you that these same people are subconsciously, and severely, joining the two. While it may not be obvious, to me, it is most certainly underlying. The mannerisms in which hardcore political enthusiasts make are essentially the same thing as the door to door evangelist trying to save you from your sins.
The United States of America was no doubt founded with the Holy Bible in mind. It’s pretty easy to see similarities in the constitution, modern law, and the Ten Commandments. No doubt about it, the fundamentals of the Bible are the framework for the legal structure of this country.
Recently, and due largely in part to the current election year, I can’t help but notice social similarities between religion and politics that make me wonder, “are these words essentially synonymous!?” Actually, similarities doesn’t quite do that statement justice. Concise replications, perhaps, does a better job. Likely due to eight years of terrible presidency, this election is receiving more buzz than any other that I can recall, which I realize isn’t saying too much being I’m all of 23 years old. Even prior to this election, I try to steer clear of discussing politics, especially in election years for fear of awakening a hidden beast in a person I had no idea existed. Some of the seemingly nice, quiet, shy people will put up their dukes if you’re slamming, or even jesting about the GOP or Dems, depending on said character.
I’m all for inquisitive inquiry; it’s the best way to learn! Social interactions on any facet are most certainly a necessity for a healthy mind. However, taking a look at the first sentence in this paragraph, a phrase stands out. “To learn” This phrase is the key to the problem that is agitating me. It seems that recently, there is less and less learning going on with all these discussions buzzing around. If you’re talking McCain verse Obama or Jesus verse Ghandi, it’s either right or wrong. The saddest part is, people start to cite “facts” for either argument, skewing them in a way with the prominent and sole intention of crushing the opposition. The only honest to God truth (no pun intended!) in religion and politics, is that there is relatively none! They are both founded on opinion, sometimes also dubbed as faith. The media is a strong proprietor for this social problem. Everywhere claims to be unbiased, factual, and rooted in legitimately funded business. The only solution I have found to this infectious media is tuning in to, or subscribing to multiple sources. Then, trying to find somewhere in the middle that seems most reasonable to derive my opinions on my own, after being exposed to as many possible outlooks. I go into each article, or TV segment realizing they’re biased, but I try to take at least one thing from each exposure. The same goes for religion. I have friends from different religious backgrounds and beliefs, and whenever the topic must be discussed, I try to take at least one thing from each exposure that I can apply to my life, or thoughts. I have read the whole Bible, and taken classes that have exposed me to other religions who don’t use the bible period. Mormons, Buddhists, Christians, Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, it doesn’t matter to me! Each has their own specifics, but the general ideas typically have lines of correlation. I respect all religions and political views the same, mostly because I believe they are!
McCain versus Obama. Choice of the decade, right? The good news is, no matter who you vote for, things can’t get much worse from the last eight years! The bad news is, if you are completely torn on who to vote for, you’re going to have to put some serious time into doing some research. I feel bad for you! No longer can you just visit a few websites, or watch the debates to make an educated choice. If you REALLY want to get to know each of these gentlemen; grab some Monster and snacks, it’s going to be a while. Each source you visit trying to convince you of one candidate over the other will also nonchalantly infect your mind with malevolence for the opposition. Irrelevant stories(Palin’s daughter, Obama’s mysterious college/trip funding), probes, and even verbal remarks will reign supreme. I have observed plenty of fairly intelligent persons flat out call both candidates words like “retarded”, “stupid”, and “clueless”. I’d like to say that nobody would be up for election if they were anywhere remotely close to those words, but the previous eight years may prove that to be false. Just kidding…..Kind of. Anyhow, political debates amongst the youth, or even major news casters have turned into playground warfare. It’s upsetting and shocking how these people actually truly believe their OPINION is correct, and anyone else who thinks differently is a moron of sorts.
You there! Yes, you! You’re voting for Obama, huh? Cool! Glad you will be exercising your right as an American! However, I’d like to request that should you choose to talk to me about the current race, you refrain from trying to change my mind. *Knock Knock* Oh, you’re from the church down the street? Sure, I’ll take your pamphlet, maybe even throw down some money for whatever cause it is you’re seeking (ya right), but again, I’d like to request that should you choose to talk to me about why your god/religion is the only way, you refrain from bashing what I think, and possibly *gasp* listen back. I can’t believe how close friends, and even family are changed people when it comes to politics. That used to be religion’s job!
Some of these people are on a mission. They feel it is their true calling to do everything in their power to inform the world that unless you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will forever burn and be tormented in the fiery pits of Hell. Likewise, should you vote for McCain, you are forever worsening the economy and solidifying your spot on the list of dumbest people to ever walk this planet. If things were so blatant one way or the other, would there really be such a large amount of buzz, debate, or discussion around these issues? Are you starting to see the web that holds hardcore evangelists and so called political enthusiasts so close together? Even if you disregard some of the current situations I’m hypothetically throwing out there, history shows some pretty clear-cut examples of politics and religion being essentially the same thing. Crusades, anyone? World War 2? The war on “terrorism”?
I hope tomorrow when I wake up and start surfing the net, I will see some positive discussion revolving around some of these topics. However, I’m fairly certain when I open some of my favorite pages such as digg.com and facebook.com, I will be bombarded with hateful topic headers, and ridiculous amounts of biased “but unbiased!” information. Currently, I’m one of those persons I referred to earlier that I feel sorry for. I am currently undecided on who to vote for. The more I research, the more depressed I get at my peers and “unbiased sources” of information. Living in Arizona, I’m fairly certain my vote won’t count for anything anyways, but I like to think it does, and perhaps it will depending on my choice that I settle on. So, until election day (jeez, it’s coming fast!), I’ll continue on with the daily ritual of flipping back and forth between FOX, MSNBC, and CNN, trying to mentally create a news segment from a non existent station that only I know, and listen to.
*disclaimer****** all religious or political names used in this opinionated blog were used for hypothetical situations, and were not intended to bash or promote one over the other. I have an incredible amount of respect for most religions, and the persons who keep up the faith so to speak. It may not be my thing, but kudos to you if it’s yours, honestly.
Very well written! You have a unique style. There is nothing really I can add or comment to because I agree with things said.
I do have a question about your last paragraph though. You said
“Living in Arizona, I’m fairly certain my vote won’t count for anything anyways, but I like to think it does, and perhaps it will depending on my choice that I settle on. So, until election day”
Do you think it deters a lot of people away from voting if they think that their vote won’t count? Especially if you know a state is overwhelmingly leaning towards one side over decades?
hey dan – thanks for the thoughts and positive comments! appreciate you reading it. that statement at the end does in fact elude to i think McCain is pretty much a lock to take AZ down. however, that being said, i don’t buy into the whole “they won’t vote if they think it won’t count” phenomenon. i think that’s just a card a lot of extreme liberals play in an attempt to justify how their candidate somehow lost. to them, it was a ridiculously obvious choice, so when/if their respective candidate loses i’ve noticed they will often resort to putting down their fellow states men. I think that may be an example of such. What do you think, though?
Jason,
Your article was very insightful and leaves alot to think about. Thinking and overanalyzing can often get people in trouble though. When you defend your position with absolute certainty against another position, this is mostly ego-driven. There is no way that anyone can ascertain EXACTLY what is right or wrong.
I want to leave my reply as simplistic as I can.
So here it goes:
Life is a state of mind.
Joe – awesome reply. “When you defend your position with absolute certainty against another position, this is mostly ego-driven. There is no way that anyone can ascertain EXACTLY what is right or wrong.” those two sentences can more or less summarize my whole article!
Jason,
I like the way this piece starts. At some point you seem to drop the topic of religion and politics. Why is this? It’s an interesting (though seriously challenging) thing to work out. (In ancient Greece, you know, politics and religion were at one point synonymous and then closely connected. Before the formation of city-states (and later, democracy), the aristocracy’s right to administer justice (with appeals to the gods) went completely unchallenged. Philosophy and poetry played a huge role in changing this, btw.)
I think there’s an important question we can ask: If religion and politics ARE united and will remain united, even if we’d like to believe they’re cleanly, neatly separated, what does this mean for all of us?
Cheers,
Lindsay
Lindsay – thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, always valued! As to why the article starts to shift a bit, I wasn’t trying to turn this into a political/religious flame war. Rather, I tried to identify a curious similarity between the social interactions between the two. I find it curious and strange how closely they are related, when hypothetically, on paper, they should be worlds apart. You touch on this in your last sentence where you raise a very, very good question. A question I’m trying to explore, but as you also mentioned, is “seriously challenging”! Again – thanks for stopping by and reading/commenting.
I think the focus on learning from social interactions re: politics/religion that you mentioned in your fourth paragraph is a key piece to the puzzle. People get intense about both to the point that their ears seem to shut down. Example–I introduced propaganda to my seventh graders today, how both political camps use it both positively and negatively. The students immediately started murmuring almost every single untrue thing they’ve heard their parents say about both candidates (Obama is a terrorist, McCain is Bush’s puppet, the world will end if so-and-so get elected, etc.). They learn to tune out at a young age, it’s gonna be interesting to get them to see that “learning from social interactions” part.
Relativism seems like an easy way out when it comes to truth; relative truth might just be a nice little catch phrase that doesn’t hurt people’s feelings. I would have liked to have seen more of a discussion on the idea of what solid characteristics you believe the concept of truth to have.
However, the English teacher in me rejoices at reading a piece of writing that actually made some semblance of sense. A work. Well-done.
Jen – not surprised to hear about the initial reactions from your students regarding your introduction to propaganda. I also firmly believe that learning from social interactions is a key to this problem, but, as I have mentioned, doesn’t happen much anymore. regarding your inquiry to my definition of solidified truth, I think that’s a murky subject. I like math because math always (ok, not always, but you know what I mean!) has a definitive answer that can more often than not be proved in multiple ways. political “fact” and “truth” almost don’t exist. like Joe previously mentioned, when it comes to religious or political debates, ego begins to play a large role and when someone gets pushed to the wall with opposing “facts”, they begin to try and discredit the other person, much like elementary bullying like I tried to touch on in the article. people don’t realize that for every “factual argument” they can come up with (when referring to religion or politics) there is an equally factual counter. I really do think Joe could have struck gold in his comments regarding ego/narcissism. when someone spends countless hours researching from a specific source, and it clicks to them cognitively, they build an unconscious wall of protection from various other thoughts. if they didn’t read it that way, then not only is it wrong, but it’s flat out “stupid” or (insert your favorite word learned in the terrible twos here). anyhow, perhaps this is a new article in the making on its own, heh. thanks again for the fantastic comments, though!