Perhaps this is naive but I do not believe that there is a place for religion in politics. The job of the politician is to speak for the masses, to legislate for the masses and to direct their servitude to be in the best interest of the masses. I simply do not see how this is possible if decisions are being made with regard to the specific guidelines of an individuals religious beliefs.
Given the vast differences between some faiths and the sheer number of religious organizations that exist, how can a political leader profess to be leading for the masses if their choices are motivated by their own personal religious dogma. The answer is; they can’t. It isn’t possible. They are speaking for only a portion of the people and are giving the others little or no voice. It’s a sly and quiet way of forcing religion on to an unsuspecting public because the laws that are created and the direction taken are applied to the whole. If a politician makes those decisions based on, or guided by faith and I am expected to follow these decisions regardless of my own faith, doesn’t that strip me of my basic right to practice the religion of my choosing, even if that choice is no religion at all?
When a candidate states their belief in God and the strength of that belief some of us are uncomfortable, most however, give it little more than a passing thought. What if the next Prime Minister or President were Islamic and noted that they would lead their respective country guided by the hand of Allah? Most North Americans would shit their pants on the spot. The unlikely bedfellows of Roman Catholics, Christians, Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses and the like would band together to ensure that it would never happen. Yes, we have the right to vote for or against, however, in the end someone always wins which means that there is always a group that remains unspoken for. Consider the religious influences on pro life/pro choice, same sex marriage and the death penalty to name but a few. I don’t know why more people aren’t frightened by this, or why religion has been allowed to flourish, unchecked in politics, stretching back to the very dawn of organized leadership.
I have always believed that the first prerequisite for a potential politician should be that they are either agnostic or an atheist. I am also enough of a realist to know that this will never happen. Should a candidate ever publicly state an ambivalence towards all organized religion, they would immediately be led to slaughter as the sacrificial lamb to a God that they do not believe in.
