Recently, during my weekly ritual of watching Sunday morning political talk shows, the subject came up of candidates “ claiming and owning ” their religions.
The main focus was the recent panel debate in New England by some “ Promise Keepers ” type Christian group.
The panel of experts on both shows ranged from ultra conservative to neo con, to moderate and liberal, as usual. BUT their combined comments stayed mainly on whether or not a candidate should or should not share their religion with the public.
It seems to me that with every passing election cycle this question gets more and more heated. Certainly in this pre-election season, the issue of Mitt Romney’s denomination has intensified the focus.
However, the pundits always either fear, or detest the REAL question. The perspective on this topic that I personally hold.
Do we really want a man wielding the most power of any single man on the planet, a man whose mere opinions can alter the courses of unknown millions of lives, to believe and trust ANY form of mythology, Be it Christian, Muslim or Thor, the Norse god of thunder, more strongly than the real world ? ? ? ? Do we want him to follow teachings and tales, written my men long since dead, buried and decayed, more “ devoutly “ than the facts and testing of the sciences of the intelligent men of OUR time. These men are dealing objectively with the observances placed before them in experimentation, and hypothesis testing. They deal with the state of the world TODAY. Not a world foreign to any of us, where idols and rituals were thought to control the physical world.
Personally, I am a supporter of Sen. John Edwards, BUT with each comment of his regarding his “ faith ” in unseen and un-confirmable beings, when all that we mere mortals can ever truly KNOW is what we have before us to see, hear, smell, touch, taste, contemplate and reason thru. My support and optimism in him erodes . .
I certainly do not know with total confidence which candidate, OR even which party, I will support for president, BUT all of this posturing about mystical ghosts and goblins, only lessens my resolve in any single man. I would certainly rather cast my vote for a man who thinks for himself and examines the evidence, even if he disagrees with me on some issues, than one who accepts blindly the thinking of long dead tyrants and pontiffs.
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Comments: 6
I think John Kennedy had the right answer to the question.
Quoted here from his campaign speeches. "So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again--not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me--but what kind of America I believe in.
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him."
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/40/story_4080_1.html It takes a while to load, be patient. They want you to watch their ad for trinity broadcasting.
Only people who agree with you and believe that all religion is mythology and has no place in any shape or form in our society should be allowed to take part in government or vote..........