Wow, hadn't thought about this one before.

For almost 3 decades now, a major American political party, the Republican, has used religion as a platform to get a sizable voting block (part of their base--or as their leadership would like to say, they are their base). This strategy worked well up to now; the party seems to have painted themselves into a corner, having played the Christian religion card too many times.

In all fairness to the party, some religious pastors/leaders gave in to a need for power and went along with this scam. It's kind of like drug use, you wouldn't have the sellers, if you didn't have the buyers. But the buyers get addicted, and can't do without the sellers.

Looks like we all need to step back and realize (once again), that not every citizen is a Christian. Moreover, what matters most to politicians is not whether you are a citizen (honestly), but whether you a voting citizen.

With an upswell of voting these days, we can again go back to not only the letter of the Constitution but the spirit as well, and welcome all voters to the ballot.

First off, I'm an Atheist.

My perspective of political figures using religion to campaign is pretty pathetic. It's pathetic not only for the candidates to pitch it - but for the crowds to actually respond to it.

Religion is dominant in this world - it's like pitching "you wear pants - and so do I!! We are brothers!". Silly.

I think it also encourages a degree of closed-mindedness. You believe the same thing I do, so lets disqualify anyone who doesn't believe the same. Have an Atheist run for president? *laugh* good luck.

I don't care what religion the candidates are. Put that info. on a biography page on their website. When they campaign on it, it's cheap and shallow. The fact that it works lowers my expectations of society

I wouldn't vote for a candidate just because they were an Atheist.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
The seperation of church and state lines are getting more and more blurred IMO.

What separation of church and state? No such thing. It's just an illusion.



The concept of "separation of church and state" is nothing but a platitude. Like free speech and democracy.

At any rate, nothing to see here. Move along now. And remember to report any suspicious activities to your nearest DHS office. God Bless America!

I'm not saying it's right, but I think the idea behind the Republican pandering to religious organizations is the perception that these believers are "of a flock" already. I have always suspected that the shameless pandering to religious beliefs has less than complimentary fundamentals behind it.

Candidates create a persona for themselves based on public opinion polls. Take the guy, for example, who comes from money, graduates from an ivy league university, but six months before the 2000 election, suddenly buys a ranch and replaces his three piece suit with down home checkered shirts and blue jeans and boots on his campaign trail.

It's all an illusion. Talk is cheap. Action is character. Judge them by their actions. Not when their lips are moving.

Maybe we need a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for politicians and religious belief? Certainly, based upon the track record of some presidents, if I were unaware of their stated religious beliefs, I would be hard pressed to recognize them by analyzing their personal behavior.

While we seem to have come a long way -- having both a woman and an African American in strong running for highest office in the land -- we have far to go before the idea of a Muslim, Hindu or someone of a non-Judeo Christian belief has merit with the nation.

Organized religion does a good job getting people to the polls. In one sense, they are much like a powerful union and politicians will work for their votes. If Christianity weakens in the U.S. and should, say, atheism rise in popularity, we will eventually begin to see politicians deemphasizing their religious stance in favor of other issues.

The minority belief will always feel 'left out' in a system which seeks the popular vote.

Besides Non-Christians, actual Christians may very well feel left out of the Elections as many of them feel betrayed by the GOP and especially this administration.

The Evangelicals actually thought that The President would listen to them and somehow get Roe vs. Wade repealed when in reality the W's played them for chumps and only payed lip service to the anti-abortion crowd.

It will be no different for the 08 elections. Single issue voters will be pandered to and they will be chumped out again. That's the problem with worshiping authority.

Good point about Roe v Wade. I know many people that will vote for the candidate who clearly espouses a desire to overturn that ruling. For them, abortion is the key issue at election time.

The current President Bush made such an effort a key aspect of his campaign for office in 2000. The current world climate has meant the issue receives less attention in 2004 and 2008.

That Roe v Wade remains in law after seven-plus years of President Bush's administration suggests that his campaign promise was a calculated attempt to garner more votes. Only the Supreme Court can undo Roe v Wade. A President may have opportunity during his term to select new judges for the court should an opening present itself, but little more.

Knowing that the abortion issue lies beyond the powerful reach of the Presidency ought to reduce it's importance at election time. Candidates should not highlight the issue. It's a deliberate distortion of truth. When politicians say they will 'work towards' something, I generally take this to mean that they will do little to change the status quo.

The abortion issue, then, is a moot point in Presidential politics. Yet it catches fire among many religious voters, perhaps at the expense of issues more central to a President's role.

[edit on 3-2-2008 by AJ Lavender]

How can people say that the US isn't a Christian nation? It is very clear that our election process is very heavily influenced by faith. I just do not see how you can mix the two when the Constitution states we are not supposed to. I am sure this will have a lot of faithful saying I told you so and boo hoo for the non-believers, but you can't deny the feelings people get when faith issues are part of an election. This to me proves that religion is a very strong part of our government process and ideologies. The political parties in our system IMO, have discovered a way to get the votes they need.

If separation of church and state were absolute, it would require that every politician would need to be atheistic. But I don't think that would work, either. That's just the denial of church by state.

We need a broader definition of what we mean by separation.

Well as what the correct crowd labeles me is the christian right a NASCAR fan. Yes Religion is a big part of it. 80% of america is christian of smoe faith. We are praying for the rest of you. Get over it .
What does the community say. OH YEA {WERE HERE AND WERE GONNA STAY} or something like that. The other side is the end of the world lets be on the RIGHT.

It's not really about religion, it's just meant to look that way. Politicians don't really care about God, they want to be God. Just look at Bush Jr. For all his insistence that he's a good Christian, it seems odd that he'd bare false witness against an entire nation and then lay waste to it.

They pander to the religious right because it's a huge percentage of the voters. It's not worship, it's not real support, it's just butt kissing on a grand scale.

You'll also notice that politicians like to talk about helping the "working class." It's not because they don't have policies that cater to the poor or the wealthy, it's because the working class has the most votes.

On the flip side, I'm sure there are a bunch of Christians out there who feel the campaigning isn't focused enough on religion because they think nothing else matters.

I'm not a Christian by any means. I haven't felt "left out" at all, regardless of what issue concerns me it's rare that I can't find out where a candidate stands on that issue. Sure, sometimes I have to dig a bit further, but that's just because my concerns are not always going to be everyone else's concern.

This whole thing about non-Christians feeling left out has more to do with religious (and atheist) lobbies flexing their muscles and trying to scoop up more influence. It's politics, not religion.