I think all of this talk about faith in politics is overblown right now because Rick Santorum says a lot of really dumb shit. Look, I'm a registered Democrat and pretty much a liberal tree-hugger. That's just who I am. I've lived through many presidents, but haven't really been involved or paid attention to politics until around the time that Reagan won reelection. Bill Clinton, who for all of his faults was still a president who presided over the biggest economic expansion in history, was a person of faith. And even though he did some pretty dumb shit I thought he was a good president and didn't really care about his religion, mostly because he didn't wear it on his sleeve, but also because I agreed with his policies. So there was no reason for me to point fingers at his faith and claim that it was a problem.
Along comes George W. Bush. A guy who I vehemently disagree with across the board on policy. And suddenly, the temptation to lay the blame for my hatred of him and his crappy policies at the feet of his stated religious beliefs was pretty strong. But the fact is he is just a guy who had different political views than Bill Clinton and implemented policies I found repugnant in comparison to most of Clinton's policies and at the end of the day they were both still people of faith. One I agreed with and one I did not disagree with.
I think a lot of people get very uptight about this religion angle when the person being discussed is someone they disagree with and it's almost like a argument by proxy. It doesn't help when you have morons like Rick Santorum saying that church/state separation make him "want to throw up." But come on people, every president that anyone reading this has lived to know has been a person who goes to church. A person of faith. It's just that now you have a guy out there making some very provocative statements in an effort to whip up support from a relatively small segment of society and everyone's freaking out about it.
We're not going to get an avowed atheist president any time soon in the United States of America. That's just a fact of life. The best we can hope for is a person who will make good decisions based simply on what is best for the country. Nothing more, nothing less. If they want to believe what's written in the bible, that's on them. All I care about is that they make good decisions that help our country. I don't really care all that much if their decisions are informed in part by their faith. I didn't care about it when Bill Clinton was president, so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and make it a big issue if Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum or Obama for that matter are our president. To me, this is just a distraction.
Yes, people vote because they believe candidates share their faith. If you're a democrat like me and you think Obama didn't get a large swath of votes because of his faith then you are deluding yourself.
First off, just let me say, this was a fantastic post. I for one don't have a problem with a candidate having faith, if that were the case I'd have to hate every president in history. The problem I have is, when they believe so strongly in their faith, that they assume god to be an answer to solving a lot of the country's problems, not the people within it.
Even though he is out of the race, I am going to use Rick Perry as an example. He had that day of prayer not too long ago in that football stadium. He said infront of the whole nation "Right now, America is in crisis, we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and
call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy". To me this is nothing more than wishful thinking, not problem solving. Jesus didn't give us these freedoms, early American's greed and disregard for others is what put us on top, followed by the millions of people who have died in this country's name to keep us there. We can't just ask god to fix it and call it a day. We need to understand the world and the people within it, develop short and long term strategies, and assume that there is no help coming from god.
Some quotes from people at the event.
"I would vote for him. I would vote for him out of all the Republican candidates. He is not afraid to say this is a problem and
this is how to fix it. Obama is not a leader"
and
"America was in decline economically and morally, and losing its influence abroad.
The nation that forgets God is turned into hell. said. God had promised that through prayer this could be reversed, healing the land"
I'm all for people praying. But the thought that people think these are the means of fixing this country baffles me. Wouldn't God have prevented it from happening in the first place? What makes us so special? This event took place just after that massive Quake hit Japan. Isn't it selfish to think that we deserve attention and help due to our terrible decissions over the millions of people now homeless due to a natural dissaster? I just feel like having too much faith can be a bad thing, especially in politics. Guiding a country not by logic, but by hope just seems very irresponsible to me. This is why voting based on faith scares me. People don't know about real issues, or real solutions.
Topic: Santorum: "I don't believe in the separation of church and state" (Read 7277 times)