Pastors and the political system
I have been hard pressed of late to understand the mind set of so-called religious leaders who dabble into politics. Who in the name of the God they claim to serve authorized them to prescribe policy or dole out advice on behalf of the rest of us – Christian, Muslim, Pagan, Agnostic, believer and unbeliever? What part of the separation of Church and State do they not understand? Any time we read or hear of a Reverend James Dobson, Jeremiah Wright, John Hagee and Pastor Pfleger etc., there always seem to be a hint that these self-righteous crusaders want the United States to be a theocracy.
The back-door influence of the church on policy-making in civil society is enough already – no business on Sundays, no selling of alcohol before noon, and all other dos and don’ts, that are a direct edict from the Church. Someone needs to tell the Reverend Dobsons of this country that it is not in their place to interpret a portion of the bible they want to ram down our throats even if they are courted and cajoled by misguided leaders who see an affiliation with a particular religious group as a ticket to a high office. Last time I checked, the Old Testament was still a part of the bible. To argue that these questions: “Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy?”; “Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount — a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defence Department would survive its application?” is a “fruitcake” interpretation of the bible because they referred to passages in the Old Testament smacks of a rather high level of idiocy and selective amnesia.
The Reverend Dodson may be an evangelical leader, but he is by no means running for any office. If he is interested in making laws, he has every right as an American to become a Congressman or a Senator. This is a secular country and any attempt by a specific interest group to have an undue influence in the shaping of our national policy should be roundly rejected by well-meaning Americans. Yes, we have “In God We Trust” on our currency, but there is no definition of that God. That inscription by no means gives Christians the right to think that they own this country.
It is true that Harold Bloom described this country as “religion-soaked”, and George Marsden may have argued that religious beliefs and practice was “the dominant force in American life”, in this election cycle, however, we want to beseech the pastors, imams, rabbis, occultists, palm readers, psychics and tea-leaf readers to seriously consider sitting this one out.