How religion influences politics
Kari Gill
Religion and politics are so closely entwined, and this has been fundamentally demonstrated throughout history. Conventional societies show us that many religious leaders are also modelling more secular and civil figures, highlighting the importance of religious beliefs when it comes to moral, ethical, and political decision-making. However, many people believe this seemingly inseparable relationship highlights a flaw in the democratic system that we live in.
This particular topic concerning political and religious connections is understandably in the interests of many people today, arising from the conflict in Israel and Palestine, as well as the upcoming American Presidential election and how religion has influenced political trust. Despite this, it was first made significant in 1648, when the Treaty of Westphalia was signed to keep politics separate from the Church. Nevertheless, religion still very much influences policy and decision-making in government in many parts of the world; consequently, many contradictory views have been induced surrounding this matter.
On one hand, the closeness of religion and politics can be perceived as admirable and perhaps even necessary for the continuance of a functioning democratic system. While, on the other hand, their entangled proximity can be contemplated as illegitimate, unethical, and a threat to democracy. I aim to discuss these views and how religion can both positively and negatively contribute to political life.
In the first instance, many religious believers aim to promote peace rather than conflict. A prominent example of this would be the Christian teachings of love and forgiveness which aim to encourage a non-violent future; likewise, these teachings are similar to views of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament which have, so far, influenced the political stance of many countries on nuclear violence. These types of movements are significant when it comes to bringing different people together and pressure groups are a prime example of how people of different religions can come together to support a cause that they believe in.
In most cases, religious believers aim to improve the world both socially and politically through helping the poor, as well as fighting for equality. Every year, Muslims practice zakat where they give a percentage of their earnings to charity. In short, these practices follow many socially liberal ideologies of helping those who most need it in our society and the central point connecting these beliefs is the principle that everyone should be treated fairly, equally, and be given the same opportunities as others.
A key illustration of the fight for equality would be in 1955, when Reverend Martin Luther King Jr became the leader of the modern American Civil Rights Movement and started the campaign for equal treatment of African Americans and the abolishment of slavery. His movement to change the world politically, was evidently in line with his Christian religious beliefs, shown through the Bible passage, “There is neither slave nor free … for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
Another example from around a similar time would be in 1964, at Nelson Mandela’s Rivonia Trial where he famously said “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
As I’m sure we can all agree, slavery, along with any form of discrimination, is seen as a moral, ethical, and religious wrongdoing; it is in fact a violation of the divine commandments leading to the belief that most non-secular figures would view any form of mistreatment as a sin in God’s eyes. It is because of these beliefs that we can argue that the Race Relations Act of 1965 was heavily influenced by the religious believers in Britain at the time. Indeed, it is these religious believers who help to promote the voices of minority groups, continuing the fight for equality for all.
Recently, the government’s plan to send immigrants to Rwanda was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court based on the legislation surrounding the Human Rights Act. This mistreatment of immigrants would be looked down upon by many religious believers; as a result, it can be concluded that an abundance of British legislation is in fact in line with moral, and religious beliefs, as a whole, and has perhaps even been influenced by the contemporary religious beliefs of the British society.
Alternatively, much of the population, both secular and non-secular, are able to come to the judgement that contrasting religious beliefs can easily act as fuel for minor disputes or, more seriously, severe conflicts and future wars. On September 11th, 2001, a terrorist attack was carried out in America on the Twin Towers. It is now understood that this attack was orchestrated by an extreme Islamic and militant leader, Osama bin Laden whose religious views turned anti-American following the support from the US for Israel. Indefinitely, this event had major political consequences from the instant economic impact, as well as the later invasion of Afghanistan on October 7th.
Terrorist organisations, such as the Taliban, describe themselves as being extreme Muslims, carrying out unlawful actions in the name of a higher being and using their religious beliefs as justification for persecuting individual groups of people. Conversely, the majority of the Muslim community disagrees with the actions carried out by these extremist groups and would rather separate themselves from any violence carried out in the name of religion.
An example of where Islamic views have influenced the world politically would be the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community in mostly Middle Eastern countries but also globally. Recently, the men’s football World Cup was held in Qatar where it is against the country's laws to be gay; this raised social and political concerns across the world around the treatment of LGBTQ+ supporters, discouraging many of them from going to watch and support their countries' football teams.
Less recently, but nevertheless a widely known illustration of where religion was used as justification to persecute the Jewish population, would be World War 2 and the Holocaust, where innocent Jews were systematically murdered by Nazi Germany. In these particular cases, the corrupt and discriminatory views were embedded within the political system of the country and joined to the state’s power. It was this power that gave these extremist groups the ability to ignore any form of humanitarian rights without strong enough opposition for a significant period of time.
Since 2014, India has been led by a political party whose views and policies have been in line with Hindu nationalist ideology. Although India is considered to be an area dominated by Hinduism, there is also a very large Sikh community in areas such as Punjab. Due to state corruption, the mistreatment and violence towards Sikhs has become a normality in some parts of India and it is largely for this reason that some Sikhs have called for a separate nation and an independent homeland for Sikhs in India.
One reason why political parties may join themselves with a religious group is that it helps them to gain support from their country if they are seen to agree with the dominating religion of the population. Predominantly, this is seen in America where both the Democrat and Republican parties tie themselves closely to Christianity. Despite this consensus with the Christian faith, these parties are becoming more and more adversarial, especially concerning topics such as abortion.
Such strong religious opinions from a president or presidential figure will, most likely, hinder any political decisions made under their leadership. This was shown in 2022 when the American Supreme Court overruled the constitutional right to an abortion. Although the president at the time of the ruling was actually Joe Biden, who has been extremely vocal about his disagreement with this particular decision, the Supreme Court has a Republican majority following Donald Trump’s presidency which allowed this legislation to be passed regardless of it being against the religious and political will of the current President.
In summary, one argument may be that the religious promotion of peace and equality has such a positive political influence and hence, the relationship between politics and religion should not be disturbed. Contrastingly, events such as 9/11 and the Holocaust prove the problems that can arise when the line between religion and politics becomes blurred. In conclusion, the point at which positive influences become negative is entirely subjective to each individual's beliefs.
Comments ()