The rift between Democrats and Republicans has been growing. This problem is simply the cause of heated politics and divisive policies — or so the media tells us.
Actually, the real issue is the increased presence of religion in American politics and the incredibly dangerous and closed-minded world it is leading us toward.
The Ground Zero Mosque and Obama’s religious affiliation are simplified, eye-catching topics, but the conflict they represent is more complicated than left vs. right. It is clearly about the role of religion in American politics.
If America has separation of church and state, how, when and why did religion become a left-right issue?
Stories where politics, religion and culture clashed have become enormous media and political events. Take, for example, plans for an Islamic cultural center to be built within blocks of the World Trade Center site.
The Cordoba House became a point for debate about how the rest of post-Sept. 11 America engaged with Muslim-Americans.
A small-time pastor from Florida incited everyone when he announced “International Burn-A-Quran Day.”
The public did not celebrate, reaffirming a national sense of religious nonviolence.
But other recent headlines, and our collective focus on them, suggest that some fear still bubbles underneath the cultural surface — and that it’s boiling over the political hotpot.
The United States is in conflict with religiously motivated extremist groups overseas, but what religiously motivated conflicts are happening within its borders and among its citizens?
Is it possible to separate religion from politics?
As the battle for the Republican nomination for president heats up, more attention is being paid to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas). These two presidential hopefuls are using their religious inclination to garner support.
Bachmann and Perry aren’t just devout; both supposedly have ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which states that Christians have the God-given right to rule institutions. Both Bachmann and Perry have taken beliefs from Dominionism, according to a Daily Beast article, and put into action the idea that the American government should be a Christian theocracy based around a fundamentalist interpretation of Scripture.
If either one of these candidates is elected, they could transform America into a country that emphasizes religion even more than it does now.
Fundamentalist Christians share a belief that this country’s problems are rooted in secularism and have resorted to scare tactics and religious fervor that set the nation on a course of oppression and imposition of their religious passion.
Religious fundamentalism of any kind is dangerous.
America could easily slip into a theocracy and all the players are nearly in place to make it a reality.
For years, most Americans maintained the belief that Christian fundamentalists as harmless, despite somewhat radical religious beliefs. As they become more powerful politically, that belief has slightly changed.
Views such as Creationism, the outlawing of contraception and gay marriage could become more widespread.
It has led to an increasing divide, and unless those who disagree with the Evangelists choose to voice their opinion, they could eventually live in an even more religious America — one that they might not be happy with.