With the Election and everything, I was wondering. What do you think about combining faith and politics? Does your faith affect how you vote? -Amber
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I think answering this question is a great way to get in trouble with some Nerdfighters, but oh well, let's run with it, shall we? Thanks for writing in!
I've heard, several times now, someone posit that "personal faith has no place in politics." Or, "believe whatever you want, just don't try to force it on other people." It tends to be a fairly popular position in the internet circles where I move, and I certainly understand the sentiment; in a society where supposedly faith based initiatives have hurt quite a lot of people, the urge to try to cut those motives out of politics entirely certainly appeals on multiple levels.
So I get the idea in theory. In practice, however, it is patently ridiculous.
The statement "personal beliefs have no place in politics" is itself a personal belief. Our beliefs are who we are. We love talking about telling people to do the research and make the "right" choice but in the end, regardless of who you are, you're going to have to make a choice between values.
Is it more important to be financially sound, or to care for the poor? What programs can best sustain both? How much right does the government have to our money, and who gets to decide how that money is spent?
These are all questions of relative value that lack any classic "right" answer. And so we make value judgments, based on our experiences and personal beliefs. And any faith you have WILL effect that. It's a part of who you are. Attempting to cut it out will be a silly mental exercise at best, and attempted in true faith (pun absolutely intended) will leave you with a final result that just feels wrong.
Yay, Democracy?
In general, people who take this position are often not thinking about how your faith informs your views of money. It's the so called "family values" questions, questions of who gets to sleep with who, and who has final say over a woman's body, that we're really talking about.
I also wish that very specific religious organizations would quit trying to throw their weight around over those issues. I'm certainly glad that we're not a theocracy. But just because I disagree with how some people vote doesn't mean I get to change the rules of "how" they vote. We don't get to tell people how to think. All we can do is try to change their minds.
Like it or not, faith and religion are person formers... they shape how we think and how we react. They form a part of who we are, even if only in our rejection of them. Attempting to ignore that part of yourself while voting will only end with a result you aren't happy with. So don't do it. Be wholly yourself as you make your choice, and then stand by it.
And this leads to the other side of the coin.
If someone, ANYONE, tells you that, because of your faith, you HAVE to vote a certain way? They are 100% wrong.
I'm always at my most Democrat around election season. Why? Because somehow, someway, word is out on the call lists that I am a pastor. So come election season, Democrats call and ask for my vote, while Republicans call assuming that they already have my vote, and ask me to stump for them.
Nuh uh.
The people who use religious affiliation as a voter mandate are in the same boat as the folks who say that your faith should be excised from the process entirely. Religious people disagree. (You may have noticed this.) Being a religious person does not remove your ability to think and function, and people who try to use it to do so are doing you no favors.
So when you vote, do your research and go with your own personal values. "Well, I only think that because I am religious," doesn't hold water. Neither does "Well, I'm religious, so I have to do this."
What you have to do is THINK, and FEEL, and go with what you believe at the end of the day. I may not like what you decide, but so long as you made an actual decision, rather than following a script someone tried to hand you before hand? Then you did it right.
Now go vote.
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