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Religion And Politics : The Dwindling Of Secularism

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Religion and Politics: The Dwindling of Secularism
Everyone has morals and beliefs that set a baseline for what they value. Values vary between individuals, but for many, religion is the root from where these values stem. While it is good to morally question, today personal religious affiliation is increasing in collective matters and actions, expressed in politics, protests, and biased beliefs. It is important to note that religion and politics are two different domains that should not intermingle. Religion is a personal ideology while politics embodies a rational, collective process. Good politics are policy oriented and not concerned with external factors related to politicians and their personal lives. Contemporary politics do not hold the same political legitimacy that it intended to have at the founding, and increasing religious activism in the political process is a large contributor to the corresponding decline. Policy and religion have different ends. The former is geared towards justice and order, while the latter towards “a purpose beyond all human purposes”. These domains hold different objectives and therefore have no reason to be intertwined, for “the cornerstone on which the separation of church and state rests . . . is the belief that religion cannot be involved with politics or politics with a particular religion without threatening their mutual destruction” (Thompson 14). America is a nation that takes pride in its exceptionalism, for the statutes of the
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