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How religion affects political decisions
The role of religion in politics
Responsibility of voters
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Summary of Major Ideas In the article, The Role of Pastors and Christians in Civil Government, David Barton persuasively advocates the need for Christians to be involved in politics. As Americans, voting is a civic responsibility. For Christians, it is a God-given command for voting stewardship. Christians who have not voted often give the excuse that they do not approve of any of the candidates that are running for the different offices. God established this country’s governing system and He choose its citizens. Christians who abstain from voting are allowing unbelievers to choose the direction and values of the country for future generations. If Christians desire to follow God’s commands and shape the country for their descendants, they need to vote. Critical Evaluation of Work …show more content…
“It is time for Christians to become salt and light in every area of society-including the civil arena” (144-145). This civic responsibility was established in Amendment 15 of the Constitution, “The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied…”. Christians should be prompted to exercise this right during elections. Americans, unlike Christians in other countries, can vote and have a say in their government. The Bible also confirms the need to vote “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's….” Matthew 22:21. According to Mathew Henry, Christians are not to give just taxes to the government, but the time and effort required to vote. History and Scripture both back Barton’s belief that voting is a Christian’s civic
”(Hicks) Originally in the United States, voting was reserved for white, property-owning gentleman who were members of the clergy. Johnson united Congress with the simple message, “Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.” (Johnson)
One of the biggest misconceptions of today’s society is that politics is run by pure fact and argument, with no spiritual aspect. However, Amanda Porterfield verifies in her novel Conceived in Doubt that this statement is pretentious and false. Amanda Porterfield takes us back to the time of early government structure and development. This era in the United States is in a stage of constant change and reformation. The United States could even be argued as blind by their religious views, affecting their morals and well-being for the future of the nation. In her novel, Porterfield stresses that the government is in no way free of the church’s principles and deserts the attempt to break the bond.
While the impact of religion on democracy has been well documented, it is difficult to trace the impact of democracy on religion. Nevertheless, historians like Nathan Hatch argue that democracy was a significant influence on the development of American religion. Hatch identifies three marks of democratic spirit found in early American religious movements – redefined leadership, acceptance of spiritual experience, and grand ambitions. All three are exempli...
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
...es by merely proclaiming the value of those teachings, at other times by having those teachings influence laws. The ‘Religious Right’ is a term used in America to describe right-wing religious (for example: Protestant, Evangelical, and more recently, Christian and Catholic) political factions. While the ‘White Religious Right’ constitutes only 14% of the American population as of 2000, the year of George W. Bush’s first election to the office, this portion of American society believes that separation of church and state is not explicit in the American Constitution and that the United States was ‘founded by Christians as a Christian Nation.’ The Religious Right argues that the Establishment Clause bars the federal government from establishing or sponsoring a state church (e.g. the Church of England), but does not prevent the government from acknowledging religion.
Proponents of a highly limited separation of church and state often argue that America’s founding fathers would be appalled at the extent to which the Judeo...
The message of political alignment is a vast and varying concept, one that will be debated for as a long as party divisions exist. This divide however exists in not just the Christian community. We begin with the metaphor of a shepherds flock, blindly following what an individual says over ones own thinking. Boyd furthers this concept of alignment and how “many who left sincerely believe there is little ambiguity in how true Christian faith translates into politics. Since God is against abortion, Christians should vote for the pro-life candidate, they believe- and the preacher should say so” (Boyd 2). This blind adherence to one topic, one issue is unfortunately a failure on an intellectual level of all people, whether Christian or not. The
I conclude that the role of the church in the state is indispensable to the extent that it produces morally upright leaders. However, it cannot influence public policies by imposing its doctrines on the state or coercing any politician or political entity thereof.
In 1789, the First Amendment established that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” This meant the Federal and State Governments could not be partial or show support for any certain denomination or religious organization. However, throughout the history of the United States the controversial question over the relationship between church and state has always been called into question in establishing a one religion government. The main focus of the inquiry is to decide whether to keep the establishment clause or to tear it down and move towards a theocratic system. One side of the debate is the group against the separation of Church and State, who believe that if America was a more religious nation that it would become more moral as well as bring everyone in agreement with national decision making. Therefore the belief is that the United State would become more unified in an already corrupt system. On the other hand, the side for separation argues that the distance between established religion and national government is inherently necessary to keep maintain: religious tolerance, prevent biases, and prejudices, along with any sort of religious freedom in country that has thousands of different organized religions.
There were several reasons for more of a democratic government in American politics and religion. Lots of participation in politics had occurred whether it was by styles of religion, worshipping, and Churches. Goldberg mentioned, “The same egalitarian impulse drove these twin democratic revolutions, and both represented an empowerment of the common man.” (Goldberg, ed.,
...eople not voting! Americans are becoming less educated on the issues that they are facing as well as the candidates running at the time of office. However, according Longley (2011) ”Still, 93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is an important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities” (pg. 1).
Hicks Laurel, Thompson George T., Lowman Michael R., Cochran George C.. American Government and Politics in the Christian Perspective. Florida: Beka Book Publications, 1984.
America wastes a lot of time trying to create a democracy completely absent of the moral expectations that our ancestors have put into place. Our founding fathers’ dream of establishing a country in which all people would be accepted has begun to fall. In our attempt to rid our country of a democracy contaminated with any belief in a supreme power, we have rid ourselves of many of our values and morals. Perhaps it is impossible for religion to dominate our political country, but we have misinterpreted the original intent of “separation of church and state” and taken this concept too far.
Although those are my words, I believe that they are the words Shane Claiborne, the author of Jesus for President would say about Christians in America. In fact, he said it in more words throughout his entire novel. At some point, American Christians began worshipping the red, white, and blue instead of the King of Kings. With a unique twist and meticulous framework, Claiborne lays out the journey of the Christian starting before Christians even
Often the job description of a pastor can be inconspicuous and differ from church to church. Is evangelism, or sharing the good news of what Jesus Christ did for the world, solely the duty of the pastor? Or does this duty lie in the job description of his congregants? Or could the job of evangelism be both for the pastor and his members? Like many aspects of the church, there are varying views on this topic.