Religion in politics

[Malus]

What do we think about religion in politics?
Personally, I think that it's a horrible thing, no nation should make rules based off of a religion, and no population should be influenced to follow a religion by the government.
Whenever religion and government mix, it's bad. Look at the right wing in the United States. Look at Poland and its persecution of the LGBT community and women's autonomy. We aren't even mentioning the theocracies in the Arab World either.
When these things mix, it always results in human rights being curbed in the modern world we live in.

[Shieldstan]

It can be a good thing though,look at India With A Religious Government

[Cerespasia]

Politics and Religion should always be separated from one another, and always considered two different things. Period. End of story. I for one really hate people who mix religion with politics, or even religious laws that involve politics, take Sharia Law for example.

[Shieldstan]

Politics and Religion should always be separated from one another, and always considered two different things. Period. End of story. I for one really hate people who mix religion with politics, or even religious laws that involve politics, take Sharia Law for example.

What about India?

[Inner Albania]

Personally, I think religion and politics should be separate from one another. Period. I don't like when politicians or leaders mix religion and politics together.

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

It can be a good thing though,look at India With A Religious Government

Modi's wannabe theocracy has been a bad thing.

[Rary]

Politics and religion should never mix. A politician can be religious, but their religion should not influence decision making.

[The Astral Mandate]

Politics and religion should never mix. A politician can be religious, but their religion should not influence decision making.

This might be the first time I've ever agreed with you.

[Cerespasia]

Politics and religion should never mix. A politician can be religious, but their religion should not influence decision making.

Agreed, and the same goes for religious figures in particular as well.

[Inner Albania]

Politics and religion should never mix. A politician can be religious, but their religion should not influence decision making.

Agreed. I don't care whether or not a politician is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist etc; but only if their religion influences their decisionmaking.

[Stratonesia]

Imagine if Japan had blasphemy laws for Shinto, à la Islam, e.g. talk s██t about Shinto gods and you'll go to jail. What would that be like, and how would it work?

[Gaybeans]

Religion should have no place in politics, frankly. It's inappropriate.

[Inner Albania]

Imagine if Japan had blasphemy laws for Shinto, à la Islam, e.g. talk s██t about Shinto gods and you'll go to jail. What would that be like, and how would it work?

While I can't say anything about Japan. I can tell about Poland, where I live. Poland has a law called "Offending religious feelings". The law states that "Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years".

The worst thing about it is that this isn't some hold-over from the olden times, there are actually have been people fined in recent times due to this law.

[Picairn]

It can be a good thing though,look at India With A Religious Government

Ah yes, India, where Hindu mobs will storm your house and beat you to death for consuming or trading beef.

[Old Tyrannia]

I'm not sure what basis people are supposed to make political decisions on if not their fundamental beliefs about ethics and the world. Almost all political decisions are essentially ethical decisions, after all. Virtually everyone has beliefs of values that are ultimately axiomatic in nature and cannot be justified in purely rational or empirical terms, but militant secularists like to draw an imaginary distinction between their own axiomatic beliefs and other people's axiomatic beliefs to justify excluding the latter from the political decision-making process. Which is not unusual- it's quite common for people to wish to exclude those they have fundamentally different views to from exercising political power. But if that is your position, you ought to be honest about it and admit that you are opposed to a pluralistic democratic political system.

[Corporate Collective Salvation]

Should a state be controlled by a church, or vice versa?
No.
Should a statesman leave his secular beliefs at the door of his church, or vice versa?
No.
The framework of a secular republic, as long as it is being honest with itself, can democratically filter out the worst influences of both technocratic, and theocratically inspired malfeasance.
The practice of politics reduces both fact and philosophy to the lowest common denominator of personal belief, or opinion, even among supposed experts.

We have thousands of years of experience to inform us on the trials and tribulations of reconciling kings with gods, but what we are still very new at, is reconciling professors with presidents.
It should be aggressively stamped into the collective conscience that the proper use of science does not include making moral judgements.
However, scientists do, and a mathematician is no less corruptible than a priest, and the history of the twentieth century has made it very clear that a deity is not a required centerpiece for human atrocity, and that technocratic tyranny is just as capable of inspiring human catastrophe as well as any theological school of thought can.

The problem is not so much what people believe in, but how they practice what is preached to them by ideologues in both the pulpit and classroom, and while we do not have much choice in where we draw our ethical inspiration from, what we can do is teach our children one at a time at home how to make the best out of whatever political agency they have, so that they do not have to necessarily fail collectively along with their peers erring on the side of least resistance.

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

Religion has no place in politics, and religion and its rules have to be slaves of modern laws prepared with secular modern science.

[Neoncomplexultra]

Imagine if Japan had blasphemy laws for Shinto, à la Islam, e.g. talk s██t about Shinto gods and you'll go to jail. What would that be like, and how would it work?

While I can't say anything about Japan. I can tell about Poland, where I live. Poland has a law called "Offending religious feelings". The law states that "Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years".

The worst thing about it is that this isn't some hold-over from the olden times, there are actually have been people fined in recent times due to this law.

does this mean that they are triggered and need censorship laws to protect their hurt feelings in their safe spaces

[Malus]

While I can't say anything about Japan. I can tell about Poland, where I live. Poland has a law called "Offending religious feelings". The law states that "Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years".

The worst thing about it is that this isn't some hold-over from the olden times, there are actually have been people fined in recent times due to this law.

does this mean that they are triggered and need censorship laws to protect their hurt feelings in their safe spaces

Yes. Yes it does

[Ethel mermania]

I like when government guarantees the free expression of religion, and guarantees no one will be discriminated against because of that expression.

[Rusticus I Damianus]

Depends on the religion. Christianity true to Jesus? Absolutely good. All other religions? Nope.

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

-snip-

Seconded.

In civilised society we accept that there should be a distinction between what people ought to do and what they can do. This is the basis, I'd argue, of all political philosophy. Politics in a liberal democracy under the rule of law is about the imaginary realm of rights and obligations, not the realm of observable and objective reality, and you just can't separate people's normative beliefs from their religion.

The long history of "secular" government in the United States should have long since killed the idea that it's possible to have such a thing as a secular-democratic government without a secular-liberal populace, yet it seems to persist.

You can have an autocratic secular government without necessarily having a secularised population, of course, but the track record of such governments is... not great.

[Rary]

Depends on the religion. Christianity true to Jesus? Absolutely good. All other religions? Nope.

The year is not 1500.

[Askusia]

Depends on the religion. Christianity true to Jesus? Absolutely good. All other religions? Nope.

That is the most christian thing i’ve EVER heard in my life.

Imagine if the president said he would turn America into a Christian Theocracy, now presumably from your post, your a Christian, so i assume you would probably like this change. But imagine if instead you were say, a Atheist or Islamic, then you wouldn’t be happy would you?

[Old Tyrannia]

Depends on the religion. Christianity true to Jesus? Absolutely good. All other religions? Nope.

That is the most christian thing i’ve EVER heard in my life.

Imagine if the president said he would turn America into a Christian Theocracy, now presumably from your post, your a Christian, so i assume you would probably like this change. But imagine if instead you were say, a Atheist or Islamic, then you wouldn’t be happy would you?

It's not exactly an incredible insight that people would prefer that the state favour their own beliefs and values rather than beliefs and values that they don't share.