Is
God Running For President?
By Mary Shaw
31 October, 2007
Countercurrents.org
I
was reading the Letters section in the October 15 issue of Newsweek
magazine, and found an interesting letter from Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney. The letter was in response to an article in a
previous edition that apparently had focused on Romney primarily as
a practicing Mormon.
In the letter, Romney wrote,
"I am an American running for president, not a Mormon running for
president."
He goes on to say, "I
would have thought that more important to my potential presidency would
be my record as a governor, 25-year business leader, Olympic CEO, father,
husband - and American."
Indeed.
I am no fan of Mitt Romney,
but I have to agree with him here.
I have thought the same thing
through the past two decades' worth of elections, which often have seemed
more like contests to prove who's more holy, not who's more qualified
to run this country.
And I thought the same thing
during a recent Democratic candidates' debate, when each was asked to
share his or her favorite Bible verse.
I wondered if that question
would have been asked if a non-Christian candidate had been standing
on that stage.
And I wondered if this nation
will ever evolve to where we really might see a non-Christian candidate
standing on that stage. (Jewish Senator Joe Lieberman doesn't count.
During his 2000 vice-presidential run, he managed to out-God all the
other candidates.)
George W. Bush not only invokes
his God in virtually every speech he makes, he also openly admits that
he takes his instructions from his God. And look where that has gotten
us. It brings to mind the words of Sinclair Lewis, who said, "When
fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying
a cross."
The religious right and their
supporters in Washington have brainwashed the American public into believing
that Christianity is patriotic. In fact, according to a recent survey
by the First Amendment Center, 65 percent of Americans believe that
the nation's founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation and
55 percent believe that the Constitution establishes a Christian nation.
Hogwash. They need to read
the Constitution, which makes no mention of God or Christianity. And
they need to acquaint themselves with the Bill of Rights.
It was with good reason that
this nation's founders wrote the "separation clause" into
the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion."
It was to protect the minority
from tyranny of the majority. Our founders did not want this nation
to sink into theocracy. They knew that theocracy always leads to oppression
and loss of freedom.
Our founders wanted to establish
a democracy in which the government serves all the people, not just
the Christian ones.
For these reasons, we should
not be compelled to vote for someone because he or she can recite passages
from the Bible. In fact, we should be suspicious of those who do so
in a political context. It's pandering, and it's often hypocritical.
We need to vote for candidates
who will take their instructions not from some deity, but rather from
the people.
We need to vote for candidates
who will take their instructions not from some holy book, but rather
from the Constitution.
Otherwise, we're no longer
the America that our founders had envisioned, and we're no better than
the theocratic dictatorships that we criticize.
Mary Shaw
is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a former Philadelphia
Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty
International, and her views on politics, human rights, and social justice
issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in newspapers and
magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's
own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International
or any other organization with which she may be associated. E-mail:
[email protected]
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