___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Should Religion and Politics Mix?

October 21, 2007

Do religion and politics mix? Should they?

President Bush’s remarks on October 5 that refer to Islam as “a great religion that preaches peace” are positively sunny. This statement seems even brighter when compared to a September 21 editorial in the Investors Business Daily that speaks darkly of “traitors in our midst” and a “vast Islamic conspiracy” in America. In the same article that Bush spoke so kindly of Islam he also is quoted as saying that those who murder for political objectives are not truly “religious people.”

At first glance it might look like President Bush is offering a simple definition of religion - good people are religious, bad people are not religious. But he is not. He only states that those who “murder for political objectives” are not religious. This leaves open the question of apolitical religious murders - can they still be religious?  

According to an October 5 story in the Times of India, many top U.N. leaders go one step further than President Bush by asserting that greatest religious evils take place when religion gets mixed up with politics.  The Times article continues on to cite Sohan Lal Gandi’s remarks that religion has already been co-opted by politics.

Sohan Lal Gandi’s remarks are contested by an Oct 2 story that appeared in the Baltimore Sun stating that religion is the last resort for people fighting political oppression. In this article, the assumption is that religion remains far removed from the nastiness of politics, only coming to the rescue when the poor and disenfranchised seek help.

If indeed, religion has already been co-opted by politics then all is lost according to a September 20 story that appeared in Canada. What makes Al-Qaeda so dangerous is that it is really about politics.

The demand to keep religion and politics separate does not deter American political leaders from insisting on the need for religious freedom. Ratcheting up the tension between Iran and the U.S., Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cites the need for religious freedom in order to fight terrorism and then points to Iran’s suppression of religious freedom.  

What is needed to combat religious intolerance is religious tolerance.

Do religion and politics mix? The question is wide open. With the writer of the Baltimore Sun article going so far as to imply that they rarely mix except when people are fighting political oppression - then and only then - they might turn to religion as a welcome advocate, as in the case of Mynammar. This seems to be the minority view at the present with most politicians and journalists stating that religion goes wrong - breeding intolerance, hatred and violence - when mixed with politics. One of the further, rather political conclusion that is often arrived at, is that something needs to be done about the lack of separation of religion in politics in other countries because it often breeds the kind of terrorism and extremism that ultimately threaten global security.

On a final note we conclude with President of Turkey’s remarks on October 3 from the independent news source Makefax, that religious terrorism and violence need not be linked with religion. Who he has in mind doing this linking he does not say. But he cites his own country as proof that religion and violence are not necessarily related, while dropping further political innuendos made that such violence only occurs under non-democratic, oppressive regimes.

David Hale.  David Hale, Ph.D., teaches at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, CO.  He has also been a columnist on religion for The Aspen Times.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Links

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=275267277682917

            (Sept 21) A federal terror-financing case underway in Dallas has allegedly produced evidence of a long-term terrorist plot of a U.S. takeover.  By using American freedoms and political processes against the U.S., groups (including mainstream Muslim institutions) have made ambitious plans to replace the Constitution with Sharia.

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=October&x=20071005143134esnamfuak0.9335138     

        (Oct 5) Prior to hosting an event at the White House, President Bush spoke with Al Arabyia television, discussing the War on Terror and the freedom of religion in the United States. During the taping, he stated that he believes Islam is a great religion that preaches peace, anybody who murders innocent people is not truly religious, and that the last thing he wants is to be a wartime president.  He added that the current war against terror is not a struggle against the Muslim religion.  The president said he does not believe that those who murder innocent men, women and children for political objectives are “religious people,” whether they be suicide bombers in Iraq or self-proclaimed Christians such as Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/Religion_being_used_to_fulfill_political_aspiration_UN_/articleshow/2431718.cms

            (Oct 5) According to top UN leaders, fanaticism and terrorism are direct outcomes of exploitation of religious loyalties at the hands of unscrupulous elements. In addition, Sohan Lal Gandhi has added comments that religion has become the institutionalized and politicized tool of a few.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.myanmar02oct02,0,2645877.story

            (Oct 2) In history, religious figures have been the last resort for people unable to fight political oppression.  When people have no ordinary means to redress grievances, they will find other ways to deal with problems. Some emigrate or join militant groups, but most seek strength and support in personal religion and religious institutions. Myanmar is but the latest example of how religion can offer support to those in need.  

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=4b36d26c-e129-4fad-b645-d734d911fa07

            (Sept 20) Is the core of al-Qaeda’s Jihad religious or political in nature?  In a recent article, one report claims that, other than a few select quotes from the Koran, the movement is sounds overwhelmingly political. “Most jihadist terrorists,” he says, “lack even basic religious knowledge.” In the view of the author, below the thin veneer of religion is an agenda about oppression, domination, and power.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/0fd074a5-c646-4467-a019-4d0b90361a62.html

            (Sept. 17) The U.S. State Department’s latest annual report on how governments around the world are doing in regard to respecting the right of religious freedom cites significant concerns in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Myanmar, and Romania, among others. According to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “Freedom of religion is…integral to [U.S.] efforts to combat the ideology of hatred and religious intolerance that fuels global terrorism.”

http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=85354&NrIssue=469&NrSection=20  

            (Oct 3) The President of Turkey claims terrorism and violence should not be linked with religion, using Turkey’s experience as proof.  According to the president, violence is taking place in non-democratic, oppressive regimes and not free societies committed to democratic principles.