by Mayv 'SpearBourne' Amaia

Created on: March 12, 2010   Last Updated: June 09, 2010

Religion and politics do not, and should not ever, mix.

How often have a minority of a certain mind set imposed their will on the majority? How many times have religiously or faith-based viewpoints been forced upon the rest of us in an attempt to form a theocracy?

Congress shall make no law for the establishment of religion. While this is not the exact wording in the Constitution of the United States of America, it is placed within the Bill of Rights to prevent the government from declaring one religion the state religion and consequently outlawing any other faith. The Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that persecution on the basis of religion and/or faith would not happen again. After all, the Inquisitions persisted into the early 18th century.

And yet, here we are, debating whether or not faith, and by association, religion, should influence someone's vote.

Being religious or faithful does not equal being moral or ethical. Just think about those who regularly attend church then torture an innocent animal; they might maintain that their Biblical G-d gave humanity dominion over all other species, and so they are within their "G-d-given" rights to do this.

And yet, we have laws to prevent cruelty and abuse; they're not perfect, and abuse still occurs, but those laws are in place.

Or think of all the priests who molested children and the bishops who hid that truth by moving the priests to new parishes, and new victims.

Are those really the types of people you want trying to convince others to make political decisions and vote while being influenced, or even largely basing it on their faith?

Then there are the medical and scientific aspects.

How many medical advances have been slowed, or even halted, by the political lobbying of the religious right? How many medical breakthroughs could we have seen had stem cell research not been made illegal simply because many Christians are so against abortion that, even in the cases of rape or medical emergencies, they would see it outlawed once again.

Never mind the countless women that could die from such legislation being enacted, the religious are trying to save foetuses, or unborn children, as some would call them.

Do you really want someone deciding that, because you do not espouse the same beliefs, you should be imprisoned until you renounce your own faith for whichever has been deemed the only acceptable one?

These examples are extreme, I know, but it has happened many times in the past. Indeed, there are places even now where this sort of persecution still happens, and there is nothing we can do about it because faith-based politics are the law in those areas.

It is a slippery slope to wind up with a theocracy. Do we really want to be there again?

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