My post last Wednesday received this response:
To you, it may seem unsettling that someone bases their decisions upon personal faith. To me, on the other hand, it is unsettling that you consider that "unsettling." Do you agree that President Bush has freedom of religion in this country? Then he ought to be able to express that religion in a free, unconstrained manner, right? Are you aware that religion has an effect upon ethical activity? Furthermore, are you aware that ethics has an effect upon political activity? So religion influences ethics, and ethics influences politics. Do you have a problem with that? If so, why? Are you trying to restrict President Bush's freedom of religion? What gives you the right to do that? You should ask yourself why you are bigoted against religious belief. Why is that, my friend?
Fuzzy logic for certain. But the reader brings up questions that are well worth addressing.
I am not, as the reader says, “bigoted against religious belief.” What I am is unsettled by the fact that our president makes decisions for every American (regardless of their religious beliefs) based on his barely-informed “gut” reactions (which are rooted very firmly in a conservative brand of Christianity).
Religion, as the reader notes, influences ethics. However, in making a presidential decision religion should not be at the core of those ethics; his religious ideology and analytical thinking should not be mutually exclusive. I happen to practice my faith inwardly, and allow it to guide my ethical decision making without dominating it. That’s just me. This president, on the other hand, seems to practice his religion outwardly: projecting onto Americans and the world. This is a quality of the president that I disagree with – not that I’m “bigoted.”
In some ways, George Bush’s use of religion in making presidential decisions is an infringement on Americans’ freedom of religion. Examples are plentiful: stem cell research, gay marriage, abortion, the death penalty, etc (am I leaving anything out?). If you follow politics at all, you know where the president stands on these issues. You might also know that his attitude towards these issues is based on his religious beliefs. So what we have are important policies being made – determining how we as Americans live our lives – that come from a conservative Christian point of view. So when the Constitution says Americans have the freedom to practice their own religion, George Bush says “only if you agree with me.”
Please read a very interesting Boston Globe column on this issue, which likens the GOP connection with God as “DSL”, while the Democrats only have a measly “dial-up.”
Respond
Back to top