Religion in politics is an awkward topic — the traditional elephant in the room. Unfortunately there are stereotypes that go with it. Traditionally, those who most mix the two are conservative Republicans advocating low taxes, pro-life, less government services and more defense spending. Liberals tend to hold the opposite view and don’t use religion to propagate their viewpoint.
It seems the two never really mixed, until now. Rev. Jim Wallis is heading the “What would Jesus cut?” campaign, which uses religion to advocate for a more liberal solution to the reducing the deficit.
The ideas this movement advocates are traditionally liberal — higher taxes on the wealthy, more international aid, programs for the poor and public education. These were all targets in one of the earlier rounds of draconian cuts that House Republicans made this year.
“I also believe that tested and effective domestic programs that clearly help to lift people out of poverty are more reflective of the compassion of Christ than tax and spending policies that make the super-rich even richer,” Wallis wrote in a piece for The Huffington Post.
This is certainly a new take on religion and politics. No longer is religion solely used to advance a trickle-down economics of deregulation and corporate monopolies. But the thing is, it is still religion.
Separation of church and state is an important part of this country’s government, though. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion and bars any religious test from being given before someone seeks public office.
This means that the federal government cannot make a “state religion” that people must follow and a person’s religion will not stop them from holding any sort of public office. That is the beauty of how this country works — we prefer that religion have its own arena.
Also, Wallis’ campaign just shows that religion is not only interpreted in one way. People have exploited and killed in the name of religion. Its intentions are good, but many people are wary of mixing religion and politics for good reason.
Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder killed Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider in Kansas. He received help from the anti-abortion group Army of God that also ends its training manual with a passage from the book of Genesis. The passage justifies violence toward other people.
Why would we want to mix religion and politics again if we have seen the results of the two? Justifying political decisions with religion is not only dangerous, but it also makes those who use it seem self-righteous. Let’s face it, no one likes being preached to.
Many of the people in the United States that Wallis is preaching to aren’t even Christian. What about the need for representation of those citizens who are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or Hindu?
While it’s refreshing to see religion being used as a versatile tool for both sides of the aisle, it has the potential to exacerbate political discourse to a level of higher toxicity. Ultimately it’s important to keep a level head when debating politics, and religion has a history of preventing that.
