(April 27, 2023 at 7:06 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: Religion should be removed from politics/ democracy or, more precisely, religiously motivated laws. But that does not mean that religious people should not be allowed to vote.
If we look at the creators of modern democracy, the founding fathers of the US, we can see that they were not necessarily atheists but they were wise enough to keep religion separate from the Constitution and the government. They did this because there were plenty of people living in the US with different religions and they knew that if they put one religion into the law all other religions would be unwelcomed and people would be persecuted because of their religion - which is exactly what was happening in Europe. So they created a country with unique freedoms for people to not only live but want to come and live in.
Now, of course, some Christian movements want to put Christian hegemony into the government which would be catastrophic not only for democracy but for people of other religions.
This makes a great deal more sense than the thread title, and I thank you for taking the time to type it out.
It's certainly true that SOME religious people would like to impose their minority rule on the majority. But this is not true of all religious people and it's not unique to religion -- the US has lost its democracy not because of religion but because of business. Corporations impose their minority wishes on the majority. Studies have shown that the will of the people has no influence on the decisions of the federal government, but the will of the corporations does. (Worrying that religion will take away democracy in the US is like treating the patient for a tummy ache after he's already been Guillotined.)
As for "religiously motivated laws," it depends on the laws. If someone's religion includes the idea that God has given equal rights to everyone, rich and poor, and that therefore we should have real democracy, then I don't see how this is a bad thing. The fact that many non-religious people share the same idea doesn't mean that it is not religiously motivated for many others. (And its genealogy comes from religion.)
Some religious people think that we should take care of the poor and weak among us, and that government should play a major role in this. I happen to agree with them, though I am not religious. The same charitable laws would be religiously motivated in their case, but not in mine.
If someone truly believes his religion, then asking him to make decisions about government with no reference to his religion is like asking him to decide without reference to the truth. Some religious people, for example, are pacifists, and when they vote they choose people who want peace, not warmongers. Asking them to set aside their religious belief that peace is good would be equivalent to asking them to vote with no moral guidance.
