Aneirin
Posts: 6121
Joined: 3/18/2006
From: Tamaris
Status: offline
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Something I have noticed with the stuff that is happening over the pond in the US, is there appears to be a lot of focus on religion with those running for the big seat. Now as I understand religion and spirituality, it is a personal thing, what we each believe is different, that is if we have our own mind and can think for ourselves. Given all those that are running for the White House, I notice much being made about the candidates beliefs, almost as if one was say one religion everyone believes the same, and I get the impression that if everyone believes they think the same then one person might be better than another as a potential leader.
I find it scary that personal belief is brought into politics and I very much believe, it should be kept firmly out, as a leader saying they made their decision based upon what ever deity told them to me is so dodgy. It as if when reference is made to the higher power, all questioning stops and the thought seems to be,' ah well, because so and so relayed what ever information to a person via their belief or other, they must be right, even if it defies all logic '. As was the case when our last Prime Minister, Tony Blair said the war in Iraq was the right thing to do because of God. That was the screaming end for me, any remaining credibility that might have been lodged in the corners of my mind where hosed out, purged from my system, he had lost the plot completely. Fine, he was he says a devout believer, that is ok, but his personal beliefs should be just that, personal. If his decisions were influenced by his higher power, fine, but what he did wrong in my view was publicly spout that what he did was right because of his religion.
Let's get a fix on this, and I have no wish to upset people, but it needs to be said, Religion, belief, spirituality, faith, whatever it might be called in something that cannot be proven to exist or not is not a basis to lead a country, especially a country in a world influential position and a force to back up it's influence. If it came down to it all and a country's leader had the finger on the button to release nuclear hell, would a decision based upon a personal belief be a good reason to press ?
Another angle, in the past it used to be protestant and catholic who disliked each other, two branches of the same Abrahmic religion, nothing from the middle ages has changed, we now have two branches of the same Abrahamic religion disagreeing, but now with bigger toys to play with, toys that will not only affect the followers of Abraham, but the rest of the world, the people who can be described as not followers of Abrahamic belief, the pagans who encompass Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and others,people who make up forty five percent of the world religions, people who incidently don't seem to be at major conflict with each other.
Maybe it is none of my business who gets elected to the White House, but then again, maybe it is, but I for one would be impressed with a person who says they have no religion and what they do is based purely on good sense and logic, deferring to a thing or not thing to me is soooo dangerous.
Is religion important in politics ?
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Everything we are is the result of what we have thought, the mind is everything, what we think, we become - Guatama Buddha
Conservatism is distrust of people tempered by fear - William Gladstone
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Is religion important in politics ? - 
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