I think it's a ploy and find it disgusting that they would use religion as some sort of tool to win over the religious voters. I also am strongly against such a heavy use of religion in politics. I think religion and politics should be separate in this country.

It's something that is out of our hands, it would be great to seperate them both, but impossible, because man wont give in...........Religion will always be used as a tool, for either good (as its meant to) or bad....

Which is why i chose never to follow a religion, I don't like to get mixed up in such garbage

It's not that I have a HUGE problem with religion, and I don't think that politicians shouldn't have faith. But I don't think they should pretend to be faithful for the sake of some votes. I think when a politician makes a political decision he/she should have the right to consider what his religious faith teaches as is, we have elected the person for the person, not part of the person. However, to use religion like some tool and to exploit their "faith" (which I doubt they have much of) is just terrible wrong.

Here in germany it's not even a subject in politics.

I have no idea of which faith our politicians are. It is never brought up in any way or the media. Nor their sex life.

Although one party leader (male) openly has his life partner on his side everywhere . i like when they are honest in that way.

We have the CDU christian democratic union-they are big but have absolutely nothing to do with christianity. I find that odd? they have been around for a long time so I guess it's not an issue anymore.

You never hear anything about their affairs or sex life either if they have that ? LOL (unless they would rape or molest).

The main thing is that they do their job well and benefit their people.
And that they really care ,and are very intelligent ,strong in character, have great social skills and have empathy for the human condition

I think here in the US politics is more of a popularity contest than about actual issues and making the country/world a better place. It's more like a High School/Junior High Student Body election than what it should be. It's sad too, politicians mainly focus on winning over the people, getting into office, forgetting about the people, and supporting their own agendas. America is going down the tubes. It kinda makes me think about what happens when you get too successful. We always invent and create and make things "better" and "easier" but what happens once you've gotten as best and as easy as possible? You end up destroying yourself and ending up back in the place you were when things were "harder and worse." It's a shame that the Democrats have stepped into the religious arena. You'd think the religious would take their party as an example of what happens when democrats get involved with you.

i really don't get what you are implying but:

Don't loose hope COI.

Sometimes things have to get "very bad" before they get better. I think the government will get better. But I am just not 100% sure.
Americans have had it and are sick and tired of this.
We have unbelievable powers to create change if we truly want it.

This is true, I think we do have incredible power. The problem is, we keep handing over more and more of that power to the government. Please don't misunderstand, I am all for helping out the needy, especially in this country. But we have become so accustomed to handing over our rights for the sake of "protection" or "security" etc, that everyday we hand over more and every day the government becomes more powerful. Pretty soon we will be left with nothing to fight with, the government will have it all. I personally will be really frightened if the day ever comes that we've decided it's time to take the guns away.

And no, personally, I don't think that politicians should use their religious creeds to place judgement on a political decision. That is just asking for trouble. I think there is a general synopsis of how people should behave and be treated in the world. You should be voting for the good of the country, the good of the people, not to satisfy the good of how you feel spiritually inside. Hypothetically, if we were ALL the same religion, then GREAT! Voting with religious beliefs in mind would be the perfect if not ONLY way to go. But the fact of the matter is this country is just too diverse. A politican cannot put their personaly belief structure into political action. That is another things that is constantly causing problems, and resentment.

Just my piece, disagree if you'd like.

I agree, but i do not like guns. But as soon as I move back over there I will purchase one and refresh myself on its use.
Why ? Because there are too many wackos walking around with gun in hand or whatever.
It's sad.

Your right it is a ploy and it is a ploy that works .what would be the chances of a candidate getting elected if he said he wasn't a Christian .I am talking about America here'

fullywired

Its sad, the US started off on the right foot, but nowadays Jefferson, Madison and Lincoln probably couldnt get elected.

If I ran for political office the first thing that would come up is my religion and it would be used against me. Could you even imagine a Pagan opening the House or the Senate with a prayer. The Christians would riot in the streets of the Capital. What right to they have to disenfranchise me from from political service solely based my religion. Should not votes be based on a persons ability not on their religion. If political candidates are pandering to the religious right to get in office who can blame them. It is the voters who make or brake the election. If the voter caste his vote based on the religion of the candidate rather than issues of greater importance, then they get what they vote for.

I think that's a tad unfair to the Christians as is it creates a very evil picture of them. First off, if you opened the house or senate with a pagan prayer no one would notice that it was pagan, and if they did Christians wouldn't riot the streets. You may have the normal psycho's and crazies say a little something, but as far as the general Christian population is concerned, we could care less.

Its our own fault really...religious people vote for religious politicians. Politics and religion should be seperate but its our own fault that its not.

We are not ruled by our governments, our government only exists because we allow it too.

This I believe, is also subject to religious ignorance. You would not believe the Christians in my community that have never been taught different about paganism, most believing it is all somehow related to "evil spirits", "evil practice", or worshipping the devil. This became a big community issue a few years back, when my friend Sabrina wore her pentacle to school (she was born and raised Wiccan) and the school sent her home to take it off and return without it, quoted as saying, "We allow no satanic articles, clothing, or inuendo at this scholastic institution."

My friend Sabrina's mom, who is a KICK ASS woman, marched her rear end down to the school and had a tantrum. Luckily, after a lot of aggressive education about their religion, the school decided to lax on the idea of kids wearing pentacles to school.

And this is just my town. There are hundreds of towns out there, I'm sure, who because of ignorance and fear, simply know no better. Wicca, various types of witchcraft, and paganism, are all things many uneducated Christians believe to be involved with Satan and evil. Naturally, if an uneducated Christian american hears there is a "Pagan" running for office, many of them will hear "Satan worshipper" running for office. Is this okay? No. Does it make their behavior excusable? Not at all. However it can possibly give a glimpse into the ideals behind why most/some Christians would be swayed to vote for a Christian politician. Otherwise, in their eyes, they're just voting for evil. And if they were responsible for putting an evil politician in office, they are not only responsible for disobeying and defying God, but the downfall of the moral establishment of the country.

I realize that in comparison to other issues our country faces on a probably grander scale, that this problem does not necessarily take precendence. However, this is one reason I've always thought that world religion should be a high school class. Maybe it is in some larger schools in bigger cities, I don't know. But in any high school I've ever been exposed to (which is in all fairness only high schools in Northern Nevada) especially because of the seperation of church and state and so many fearful Christian parents, I've never seen a high school student's ability to take a class to learn about all (at LEAST major) creeds. To learn their teachings, their worship, just in general what they are all about. If you started young, as you are becoming old enough/are old enough to vote...I feel like this would bring down a lot of the confusion and ignorance about other people's religions. Bring down a barrier of fear and inhibition. So that when that generation is old enough, they are educated enough to know that if a pagan is bold enough to get out there and I don't know, run for president, voters can say, "Oh yeah, I learned about paganism in high school." Then laugh at the notion that when they were young, their parents thought they were devil worshippers.

I just feel like, with America being the beautiful melting pot that it is, brimming at the borders with culture and theology, that it is our job...if not our duty and RESPONSIBILITY to teach our children about one another. This is a gateway to getting rid of hatred and ignorance. The more we know, the less we fear.

Just my thoughts

I think the out cry for a Wicking or Druid prayer would be much worse, after all we are considered Satanist.

Now let me make a point here.

I'll be the first one to say that even as a Christian, however liberal I may be (to the point I've been scolded and told I really am NO Christian), that this is appalling. Nay, may I go as far as to say frightening.

However, nonetheless, you posted this as a retort to Christians rioting about politicians of others religions, no? I too think it is unfair for you to make such a broad generalization about Christians because THREE Christian loonies made asses of themselves. However, I can recall some Muslim loonies that crashed into some really big important building in this country, slaughtering thousands of people.

Does that mean that every Muslim in this country is a blood thirsty, kamikaze savage? I think not. Close mindedness and ignorance are the tools of hate. The very tools Christians are so revered for having. Are you not exploiting some of these traits attempting to prove this point?

This is no attack involved, I'm just pointing out, that maybe you should see the plausible path of hypocrisy here. ALL people should be treated equal. Obviously, there are more Christians who could use a slap in the face as an intro to this lesson than many. But to simply single them out as being the only ones that have a problem with other creeds in office, I would strongly consider you think about that. I know atheists...PERSONALLY, that get pissed off anytime a person of ANY religion gets into office.

Profiling is a dangerous action and mindset my friend. This is all I'm trying to say.

To bad you weren't at our last Pagan picnic and listen to the stories of discrimination. The one the teach told was really bad, she ended up having to move out of the town she lived in and take another job in another county. I just really get pissed about this stuff. It is not just a few people it is a lot of people and it gets old. You think I am being unfair well maybe I am, but there is a lot of unfairness going on. Some of us get tired of living in the broom closet.

Its been a fact that certain things that appeal to the public is sometimes used as a means to an end with regards to political advancement.

One could say that it is a shame that religion is used as a tool by the government to sway public opinion.........One could also say that the developement of organized religion was devised in order to sway public opinion, thoughts and loyalties. That the very premise of "God and Country" is steeped in a propagandized flavor that intoxicates an individual to vote a certain way......or even pick up a gun and kill another.

If one thinks back to the origin of "public opinion" , to the days of kingdoms, to the time of the Town Crier......"HEAR YE , HERE YE ".....the town crier voicing Royal Creeds and Proclamations. The words of the town Crier were in fact the words of the royal family and were to be heeded with equal prestige.

The King or Queen were the intermediaries between the common folk and God. Religion was used or faith in God as means to manipulate the public to serve the needs of the ruling class and the Town Crier was crucial in bringing these Royal desires to fruition.

The "Town Criers" of today are our television sets , news agencies and other information sources. The medium has changed but we have not strayed far from the days of the town crier........and religion or faith in God will always be used as a tool.

Which came first the chicken or the egg.......who knows?.........Whether or not religion was developed by the ruling class to control the public, or whether or not religion was always there and then utilized by the ruling class depends, of course on one's own view of God.......and country.

Back in the days of Kings and Queens, the King's religion was the state religion and your religion. Which is why the founding fathers put in the freedom of religion clause. They knew what it was like to live under a theocracy. Unfortunately many people in this country have forgotten the lessons of history and of the founding fathers. They didn't have any intention of building another Christian theocracy, but rather a land of personal freedom and liberty.

In the words of James Madison:

What's kind of interesting is that US hasn't really had many strongly religious presidents with perhaps a few exceptions.

Mostly, they all seem fairly middle-line to me... they all look more like politicians to me than pulpit pushers. I don't see a lot of holy-roller denominations on this list or denominations which are anything other than moderate in their practice. They're all basic go to church on Sunday, live your life the other 6 days types of churches. Not saying they don' have faith or aren't serious about it, but there's nothing very obscure or scary in these churches that I can see. [Source]

Baptist
Warren Harding
Harry Truman
Jimmy Carter (raised Southern Baptist) (later left the denomination)
Bill Clinton (Southern Baptist)

Catholic
John F. Kennedy

Congregationalist
Calvin Coolidge

Disciples of Christ
James Garfield
Lyndon Johnson
Ronald Reagan

Dutch Reformed
Martin Van Buren
Theodore Roosevelt

Episcopalian
The first seven presidents listed below were all from Virginia. Until 1786, the Episcopal Church was the "state church" of Virginia. See above for more detail on each.
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Franklin Pierce
Chester A. Arthur
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush

Jehovah's Witnesses
Dwight D. Eisenhower (later Presbyterian)

Methodist
James Polk (originally Presbyterian)
Ulysses Grant (allegedly; his theology is unknown)
William McKinley
George W. Bush (originally Episcopalian)

Presbyterian
Andrew Jackson
James Polk (later Methodist)
James Buchanan
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Woodrow Wilson
Dwight D. Eisenhower (originally Jehovah's Witnesses)

Quaker
Herbert Hoover
Richard Nixon

No denominational affiliation
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses Grant
Rutherford Hayes

Deist
George Washington[citation needed] (also Episcopalian)
Thomas Jefferson[citation needed] (also Episcopalian)
James Madison (also Episcopalian)
John Tyler[citation needed] (also Episcopalian)
Abraham Lincoln[citation needed] (disputed)

Unitarian
Unitarian Universalism is the religion generally associated today with those whose ideology developed from deism.
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Millard Fillmore
William Howard Taft

Disputed
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses Grant
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Johnson