Regime, Religion and Politics

Religion is a concept that controls the decisions in governing a country; however, many were overpowered to represent such religion they did not correspond with. In American history, the New World gave the people the fallacious promises to escape religious persecution. Nonetheless, having different beliefs caused war, diverse opinions in politics, the economy, and even slavery. The title of a religious leader was not used to respect God, but in a way to overpower civilians and deceive them.

Historically, religion and politics have always played a very significant part in our everyday lives, dating back to the ancient pharaohs of Africa to our modern day society, the relationship between religion and politics can be traced through centuries of human history in various civilizations. Both religion and politics prescribe, legislate, and enforce codes of behavior, promote collective action, and create group identification. There are numerous examples of how religion continues to contribute to the formation and evolution of political ideas and institutions. For a good example of how religion affects politics in our modern world we need not look very far but in our own backyard. The influence of Catholicism on Latin American politics, and the role religion plays on Middle Eastern politics have had a profound affect in those related societies. The Catholic charismatic movement has also become more and more politically active”.

Since the beginning of human civilization, there continues to be a strong relationship between the state and their chosen religious institution. According to an interpretation of an anecdote of Thomas Jefferson, “He didn’t say he say he believed in the Christian God; he evaded that point. But Jefferson did agree with what all his colleagues in the founding thought that a people cannot maintain liberty without religion” (Novak, M., 2006). While the relationship is inevitable as it is used to unify a population, true government should seek as diminished a relationship as possible. While religious freedom is essential to what America was founded on, it cannot infiltrate our governmental systems

The word Democracy means that the people rule. Democracy may require things like freedom of speech and universal suffrage but the notion of democracy sets no limits on what the people may do in their sovereign capacity. The United States constitution is not a true democracy because it enforces limits on what democratic government decides. All liberal constitutional democracies enforce regulations on what private activity government can regulate, including religious behavior. Since counties can be more democratic or authoritarian than others, I like to view the differentiations through the data collected by Freedom House. While the number of countries labeled “free”

Religion is a big part of the history of the United States. Many of the people who ended up settling in America held very strong religious beliefs and traveled across the ocean from Europe to practice their beliefs in freedom. Our founding fathers, for the most part, held deeply religious beliefs and you can see that legacy on our currency, in our court proceedings, and on government buildings and monuments. Despite what appears a clear integration between religion and government our founding fathers sought ways to limit religions role in government. The first Amendment in the Bill of Rights says, “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Madison, 1791). Some interpret this to mean that the government can’t set up a church or favor one religion over another. And on this basis is why I believe faith groups and institutions should not be allowed to form political parties or gain influence in the workings of government. This paper will explore some of the reasons why this is problematic and why our founders sought to control religions influence but also letting everyone worship in freedom.

Wienclaw's (2009) "Religion, Government, and Politics" provides a general overview of how religion influences politics and public policy by influencing worldview. The author provides an overview of research on this area of study, which distinguishes between theocratic nations and nations that attempt to legislate the separation of church and state like the United States. The author points out that even when legislation prevents too much collusion between religious and public policy, voters are invariably influenced by their religious beliefs and backgrounds. This relationship has been supported and substantiated by empirical research.

We are charged with a near impossible task of creating a new system of governance. We all have concerns that need to be addressed, but I want to discuss the importance of making a clear statement of the separation of government and religion.

“Religion is often still another determinant of political behavior, and in many societies, plays a role in the formation of social and political values, especially when religions diversity is present”. (Camp.1993.Pg. 86) Even though the pre-dominance of Catholicism has strong religious differences, it can be described as a battle between secularism and religion.

In this paper, it will be submitted that some forms of establishment such as that in England and Scotland is consistent with religious freedom. While other forms of establishment such as that in Iran, which is noted as being an Islamic theocracy with the adoption of Sharia law is not consistent with religious freedom.

By analyzing any war, such as the American Revolution or World War I, people tend to accuse religion as the cause. Society attempts to mainstream religion at the fore front of war by ignoring politics. What do I mean by that? Well, politics is the study of global governance, how power and resources are distributed within a society, while religion is the study of human values within our divine commands or self-conscious. So, politics focuses on the process of deciding who gets the tangible goods such as land or the abstract goods such as power, which indeed, at times causes conflict. On the other hand, religion deals with human values, which often gets misinterpreted, and becomes a fault line between politics and war.

Often times religion is used as a way to enforce certain actions or justify a way of doing something. This was discussed in relation to nature and primarily Western societies in an earlier reading but also pertains to many social aspects of the Eastern religions (Tucker, Grim 2604). In China, religion is shown to greatly influence the social hierarchy and could be used as justification as to why people are in the positions that they are ( Poceski 27).

Throughout the course of time, democracy is now becoming widely accepted by a majority of countries. As countries become generally educated, democracy is become favorable. As the liberation Technology becomes an acceptable way of education, countries seek the freedom of technology. Liberation technology also allows for other people to look at the democracy of the United States and share ideas. As citizens become more educated and have greater income, the democracy’s popularity grows. The freedom of working and profiting from their own money makes people of other countries look at democracy with envy. Moderate religious practices, not including extreme religions, provide a moral grounding for a system that respects the freedom and dignity of

Throughout the twentieth century and continuing into the twenty-first, a leading question arose regarding Islam and its traditions. This question asked whether Islam can be compatible with democracy. Seemed as a simple question, such an inquiry requires an in-depth look at the matter at hand. When one asks whether Islam is compatible with democracy, one needs to analyze the definition of democracy. According to Webster’s Dictionary, democracy is “a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or their elected agents under a free electoral system.” Such is the definition that mainly pertains to western democracy and western thought. What many tend to forget is that democracy should not be

Society and government in our day and age is much more secular than it has been for most of human history. In fact, many countries, such as the United States of America, even have laws built into their governments’ constitutions establishing a barrier between religion and government. But throughout humanity’s past, it was quite common across many diverse societies for religion and politics to overlap; religion often influenced politics and politics often used religion for practical purposes. In the process of trying to come up with a topic to research on South Asian history in the ancient and medieval periods, I was very interested in this relationship between religion and politics and knew I would want to pursue this topic in my paper. The period of South Asian history to which I narrowed my focus to was that of the Mauryan Empire and the post-Mauryan polities that existed in the times after the collapse of the Mauryan Empire. Thus, the period I focused my research and paper on fits primarily within the years of circa 321 BCE to around 320 CE. The leading question behind my research was that I wanted to research the nature of the relationship that existed between politics and the religions present during this time in the region of South Asia; I wanted to examine whether this relationship existed, and if so, to examine how and in what ways these religions influenced politics and vice versa. In my research I found that there in fact was a strong relationship between these

Inside political, social and economic institutions all social groups are to be treated equally in a fair and just manner with equal access, equal opportunity and equal rights. Outside them the competing notions of the good must be left to thrive. The prescriptions of religion, for example, must be treated tolerantly both as guides to individual conduct and as recipes for living a good life. On this basis, I maintain, therefore, that the state, in a pluralist society, cannot have an established religion. If the state is to be neutral then it must be secular.