Is Religion Shaping World Politics?

After discussing the upcoming presidential election with folks in my office at work and with others in church and other social situations, I am beginning to sense that religion is becoming more and more a force in shaping the views of others and the ultimate outcome of elections.

Historically, of course, religion played a large part in politics and world events. The Catholic Church was instrumental in shaping the direction of the world through its papal directives. Differences between Catholics and Protestants redefined royalty in England and determined who would sit on the throne. And people fleeing religious persecution fled Europe for the new land to start a new nation founded on religious freedom.

More recently, we have seen the overt influence of religion on world events, including the events of 9-11, brought about by the religious beliefs of radical muslim terrorists. Similarly, we see conflicts in Ireland continuing today between Catholics and Protestants. We see Christians attacked by Hindu traditionalists in India, and those same traditionalists setting policy for their country.

These events bring up the question, "Is religion currently influencing politics and world events to a greater extent?" I would have to answer, "Yes." Case in point -- the current U.S. Presidential Election.

I have been dumb-founded by the views of some that President Bush is the worst President that has ever walked the face of the earth. I have friends that would vote for anyone that was running, just to keep President Bush out of office. They honestly hate President Bush.

As I was reflecting on their views, I reflected on my own views of John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Like my friends and their view of Bush, I strongly disagree with the politics of Kerry and Clinton. Of course, I would have to say that I don't "hate" them, but I do not think they are what America needs. But, why? I pondered my views and I pondered my friend's views and have come up with this conclusion.

I propose that our support, or non-support, of candidates is based largely on our religious world-view. I support Bush because I see him as belonging to my religious world-view. While I may not agree with all of his policies, he bases his decisions and his policies on the same principles that I use to make decisions in my daily life. Similarly, because my friends do not share this world-view but tend to look at life from a secular, humanist world-view, they support candidates who make decisions from this perspective. Ergo, like produces like; religion or non-religion, produces candidates for each world-view.

As someone who looks at daily life and politics from a Christian world-view, I can no more vote for candidates like John Kerry or Hillary Clinton than my friends could vote for Bush. And, apparently, this is the case for the rest of our nation and the world. Consider this...

Catholics supported John F. Kennedy in 1960 by an overwhelming margin, simply because he was a Catholic -- he was one of them. However, because John Kerry appears to many to be CINO (Catholic in name only), the majority of Catholics are supporting Bush in this presidential election. They are basing their vote on the candidate most in line with their Christian world-view.

Similarly, most non-religious liberals are strong supporters of John Kerry. The Hollywood crowd, MTV, major media and the like favor Kerry, simply because his policies mirror their own particular world-view.

France, a largely secular non-religious nation, supports Kerry and simply loathes Bush. Britain, ruled by Prime Minister Tony Blair, a devout Christian, is a strong supporter of Bush.

Religion is shaping this Presidential Election.

Understand that this is a general theorem. I know there are evangelical Christians who are going to vote for Kerry. I know that there are secular humanists who will vote for Bush. But generally, our election this year is divided based on religion. What does this bode for the future? We can only wait and see....