If an ultra-religious candidate were to run, and he/she spouts enough bible-rhetoric, they would be assured of the support of the sincerely religious element of society. If this support is enough to get him or her into office, then the church would have an inlet into the state. The only way to combat this would be to only let aetheists and agnostics run for government posts, and this would contradict the freedom of religion aspect of the constitution, not to mention the very principle of democracy
I'm having problems with the language "ultra-religious" and "sincerely religious." I see no reason why a sincerely religious person might not feel uncomfortable when politicians start spouting off bible rhetoric.
Religion can inform every aspect of a person's life, including politics, and this, I think, is not a bad thing.
When we talk about "the Protestant Christianity of the great majority of Republicans," I'm not sure what we mean. If you say, "Southern Baptists," then I have a better understanding, but then I would guess the majority of Republicans aren't Baptists. And even then....
And I know we all understand that and tend not to qualify our statements for the sake of brevity, but I think that it should be noted.
And it's also part of the question. Is this kind of attitude expressed at the Baptist Convention just the loud minority? I think that it is very difficult to say without conducting some fairly extensive studies. In my experience, I have encountered a number of conservative Christians, none of whom have ever expressed views that Muslims, or Muslim nations ought to be treated as somehow beneath Christians. But I live in a fairly well-educated neighborhood, and I have heard other stories from friends in a small town in Arkansas.
Another problem in answering the question is that political views can impact the religious views. Because everyone tends to work on these simultaneously, it is very difficult to separate.
Unfortunately, a lot of our relations with Muslim countries IS the rhetoric. So even if this is just a loud minority, a loud minority could still have a significant impact on both policy, and the way our country is viewed from abroad. |
to "real" Republicans that seems to indicate that the Southern Baptists do not have a grip on the party or at the very least it's tenuous. Or maybe not.
Hmmmm. I don't think I'm really helping my own thread.