by Noone

Created on: November 02, 2008

Should ones faith affect ones vote? It's an interesting question, and I think it's only natural that a persons faith will make a difference to who they vote for. I think anyone would struggle to say their faith (or morals), in all honesty, does not affect who they vote for.

Politics is basically about your views, and how you feel about each politicians policies...Their views! Inevetably, your faith will also affect your views about the world around you....Things you believe are moral, and immoral. It's unlikely any person would vote for a party who said they would force abortion on girls under a certain age, when an act like that is completely disgustingly immoral to you.

Yeah, it's an extreme example, but you understand what I mean. Religion is incredibly political, in terms of the many moral issues that require government backing or banning.

However, the question here is 'Should' a persons faith affect their vote, not 'does' a persons faith affect their vote!
Personally, I think the answer is no, but more importantly you shouldn't feel you can, as governments shouldn't back any policies based on a religious viewpoint. However, we are all well aware that in (one imparticular) some western countries they do just that.

When you are voting based on your religious beliefs, it is a vote to force those religious beliefs upon other people. Take abortion as an example. Say the Republican party says 'If you vote us in, we will make abortion illegal'.
You are a christian, or a muslim or whatever, and your beliefs are that this is wrong/immoral/against God, then you are choosing to inflict those beliefs on a nation of people who may not share them. If this happens for all religious issues, then we end up in a religious dictatorship.
Gay marriage is another example of this. People voting for a party because they won't allow homosexual marriage is a vote to force your beliefs upon others.

I don't feel that this is the way to a better future for everyone, but hey! That's me voting based on my beliefs.... Even though I may not have faith in a religion, and you may not, at the end of the day everyone does vote based on their own beliefs or morals, which is the same thing.

So, in answer to the question, ideally, no. A person should not vote based on their personal faith, beliefs, morals, but should vote for a fair and equal country for everybody. However, as everyones idea of 'a fair and equal country' differ a fair bit then this is pretty much impossible.
Everyone has, and always will vote based on their faith and beliefs on issues they feel strongly about, and politicians will continue to play on this knowing that people are far more concerned with gays, abortion, and the death penalth rather than being concerned with exactly what it is that politicians are doing with taxpayers money.

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