Get Incensed

So which would you rather have in the Oval Office? A Mormon, evangelical Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or a Catholic? According to a June 2006 poll (results posted on NPR) 37% of Americans would not vote for a Mormon; 15% would not vote for a Jew; 54% would not vote for a Muslim; 21% would not vote for an evangelical Christian; and 10% would not vote for a Catholic. So what religion should represent the American government? NONE!!! (But I’ll get into my opinion later.)

An article by Howard Berkes posted on NPR last Friday, brings to light the real discussion that is taking place right now regarding the former Massachusetts Govenor Mitt Romney (left, picture by Getty Images.) I encourage you to read the article, but the bottom line is that the evangelical Christians are not ready to allow a Mormon to have the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election. Well, all I’ve got to say about that is…

Religon has NO place in our government anyway!! The fact that we are even considering religion when it comes to our presidential candidates makes me sick! The separation of religion and government is what this country is about! Every American has the right to have religion or not, and our president should NOT be making decisions for our people based on his or her personal religious beliefs! This makes me want to scream!

I have shared my views and opinions on this subject several times over the years. So, let me share some tidbits of those conversations with you now. (Yeah, I keep track of ‘em.)

“…[this country] while founded by Christians, was founded on the idea that its inhabitants would not be religiously repressed - they would be free to practice any religion or no religion at all. While our governing bodies are, and will continue to be made up of people that have personal religious or non-religious beliefs, and will no doubt bring those beliefs with them to their respective offices, their chosen religion should not govern our country. It doesn’t matter if I agree with them or not, our government has no business dictating to me or any other American what they must believe and what religious or non-religious morals they should have. We have laws that, for the most part, are accepted by Americans, and those laws should never be representative of any religion or anti-religious teachings. This is what is supposed to separate us from the countries that force their people to live in oppression and censorship. In order to keep the government clean, we have to have complete separation of church and state…” - Marissa Sego

(In response to an IWU peer that stated the idea of “separation of church and state” was the idea of Thomas Jefferson, and that the constitution doesn’t support that idea.) “Thomas Jefferson was the first to use the phrase in the Danbury letter in 1802. However, the phrase was a direct interpretation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment. This interpretation was agreed upon and upheld by the US Supreme Court. Therefore, it is in the US Constitution, just worded a little differently.” - Marissa Sego

The discussion around the 2008 presidential election should not be about what religion the candidates practice, but rather what he or she plans to use as a guideline in governing our nation.

Want to find out how much you know on the subject of religion in govenment? Check out this link… Freedom From Religion Foundation.