Politics and religion

It is no secret that politicians are often forced to bow down to religious pressures to truly be accepted by their constituents. This was never more evident than with Obama's presidential campaign, as well as with any politicians claiming to be pro-choice in the ever present abortion debate. Obama's popularity got so strong that Sarah Palin felt the only way to slow him down was to spread propaganda that he may be a Muslim. Due to the ever-growing xenophobia of Americans, and new hatred and fear of Muslims, this lead to more fervor than she bargained for. She even was forced to tell her voters that she does not truly believe he is a Muslim and that they should respect him. But the damage was done. Some people even shouted bigoted phrases about the future president such as "terrorist" and said he should be killed before he could take office. Since then, Obama has asserted he is indeed a Christian and faithful church goer. He is even in photographs entering and exiting his church. Can you imagine what would have happened if he had stated he did not believe in a god? Or if he confessed to truly being a Muslim? The irony is that the original settlers in America, the Puritans, had come here to escape religious oppression and persecution, only to become embroiled in the Witch Trials, killing any woman that spoke her mind. America has been fueled by xenophobia for centuries, and to this very day people still seem afraid to truly say what they truly believe. Politicians should, at the very least, be the ones to tell us what is really on their minds. If they cannot tell the world what they truly believe, how can we ever truly believe a word they say?

I am not sure who it was, but there was a politician in the United States in the past 10 years that had openly stated they did not believe in a god. Shortly afterwards, the outrage that broke out caused them to rescind the statement and claim to be an avid church goer and a true believer in a god. This is one thing that should never happen. Nobody should ever be forced to renounce their beliefs because the majority disagrees with them. I certainly do not allow the vast majority of Christians and other deists to influence the beliefs I broadcast, and nobody else should either. I would not trust a politician that only says they believe in a god because their constituents would never vote for a godless heathen. Our founding fathers separated church and state for a reason, and warned us all of the dangers of allowing religion to influence laws and other political functions. Unfortunately, their warnings went unheeded, and we see the end result of that failure everywhere. Back to the topic of abortion as a primary example, the only reason that abortions will never be legal in this country is because no politician can be pro-choice without committing political suicide. Voters will not support a pro-choice candidate. This was never more evident than when Mitt Romney was forced to change his stance to pro-life when he had initially stated he felt a woman had the right to choose, which caused him to fall in the polls. He has since been a staunch pro-lifer and has not looked back. The problem is that the pro-lifers believe that life begins at conception, while the rest of the world knows that life begins either on first breath or when the heart starts beating and other vital functions start. Then comes the argument of the "soul" which has never had any proof it ever has or ever will exist. Some believe that the soul becomes infused at conception, while others feel it does so shortly after. The thing about the soul, however, is that there is absolutely no reason to believe there even is one. Some argue a soul makes us human. They say that without one, we are inherently evil, and might as well be savage beasts. Others believe that all humans are inherently good and we all have the capacity for compassion, love and honor, it is just that many people prefer the dark to the light. All living things can be good or bad, not just humans. Therefore, a soul is not requisite to be good as opposed to evil. And since all humans are claimed to have souls, and many humans do terrible things, the entire point is moot before the argument even began. Human beings are the only species on this planet that kills its own out of cold blood. Think about that.