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Legal
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Mixing Religion And PoliticsCombine Religion And Politics For Combustion
Religion and politics are a deadly, explosive mixture. Religion becomes more important than individual rights and political power provides belief enforcement. History is replete with examples of over zealous religious beliefs becoming the law of the land because that person had the power to enforce those beliefs. Most of our wars have had religious beliefs veiled within their cause. Hitler is but one example while Pope Innocent III is another. Both tried to exterminate a group of people based on flawed religious idealism. Even the Christian God is lower to these human standards throughout the Old Testament. God commands all males to be killed, all women that have known a man to be killed. This kind of action is viewed as acceptable simple because God said it was or rather God’s voice on Earth said it was. If your God is cruel and unjust in civilized human terms, can the people be any better? In 1918 Hitler had a supernatural vision in which he heard voices telling him to save Germany. From that vision, politics became Hitler’s method, Nazism his weapon. After this vision Hitler’s personality changed from a non-talented speaker to a speaker of power with the ability to control people through his speaking. Just as Paul had an epiphany on the road to Damascus , so Hitler had his in a hospital ward. Hitler’s power over the minds and thoughts of men and women can only be understood when viewed as the power of a religion. Hitler was defied by many Germans. Hitler was to many Germans the same as the Pope is to Catholics. Hitler and Nazism became the authority of what was acceptable and sacred just as the Pope and the Priests are for Catholics. Hitler derived his power over the German people in the same way as the Pope: he was considered to be God’s oracle on Earth. Nazism became not so much a revolution as a religion. The power of religious zeal to cause normally rational humans to act irrational is something that needs further research. We rightly demonize Hitler and Nazism for encouraging, condoning, and performing acts that have been done by others but without the same outcry. Any act to exterminate a group of people, whether they be of one race or one belief system, is wrong regardless of the intentions of those performing that act. Hitler was wrong in his actions just as Pope Innocent III was wrong to allow the complete population of cities and towns to be murdered in an attempt to wipe out the Cathar beliefs (1198 - 1216). As the Bishop of Cîteaux is reported to have said, "Kill them all, God will recognize His own". Millions were murdered in an effort to purge civilization of Christ’s enemies. Perhaps the reason the Church didn’t condemn Hitler until late in the war was based on quilt. We are observing the same religious zealousness still being practiced. Fortunately, in these United States it is much harder for the zealots to overcome the political process because most of us have been taught the value of individual rights and individual thinking. Fanatics and zealots keep trying but so far their will has had limited effect. The diversity of beliefs and the legacy of law in these United States prevent one religion from becoming so powerful as to rewrite our Constitution and our laws. At first blush, it would appear that a government based on and ran according to religious principles would be a great idea. (Which religion to use may be the first and greatest fight - even among religious leaders.) However, history has shown that most religious leaders are only fair-minded within their own belief system. They are convinced of their correctness and see it as acceptable and even necessary to force their beliefs on others - after all - it’s for their own good. Religion and politics often promote a narrow view of life while promoting absolute concepts. In order for one to be right in religion or politics, opposing views must be wrong or at the very least not as correct. Combining religion and politics in one person only serves to narrow the view even more; add power to enforce and you now have a dictatorship of thought, deeds, and actions. If one religious belief controlled our government and enforced our laws, what we see now as intolerance would become active discrimination, perhaps ostracism, and even torture, if history is any indication. While religion has its place, governing should not be one of them. Religion usually does not allow the freedom of disagreement that politics does. One voice becomes law and God’s voice on Earth. One person with the power of eternal life or death to give - if you are a believer. Mix that supposedly divine power with political power and disaster is balanced on the knife edge of that person’s tolerance and sanity. As a nation, we must constantly guard against the merger of church and state. We must strive to maintain opposing ideas. We cannot allow our government to even appear to favor one religious belief above another. Most see nothing wrong in using "In God We Trust". While God is considered to be a general term, it is offensive to those who believe in another name or in no name. God has become synonymous with the God of the Christian Bible and, therefore, encourages people of the Christian belief that this nation is a Christian nation. We must be thankful that our own founders saw the necessity of church and state separation. Our Constitution favors no religion or even mentions God. The United States was not founded as a Christian nation; it was founded to offer safety and sanctuary to all people of all beliefs. We must be vigilant and strive to maintain an openness to all religious ideas and expressions so long as they do not threaten our safety or our individual freedom. Author: Don Miller
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2003 Articles |
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