Religious Leaders Should Stay Out Of Politics

Although recent polls have shown that the number of Americans who are living their lives without religion is growing (atheists, agnostics, skeptics, etc.), it is still a fact that this is definitely a religious country.   A recent Rasmussen Poll shows that about 80% of Americans say that religion is at least somewhat important in their lives.

That's still a big percentage.   And there are those fundamentalists on the right-wing who believe this means that religion should rules politics and the Bible should trump the Constitution.   Thankfully they do not make up a majority of the population, or our democracy would soon degenerate into a theocracy -- much like the ones our forefathers were trying to escape from when they came to this country.

That same Rasmussen Poll, conducted December 17th and 18th (with a 3% margin of error), shows that over half of all Americans (53%) do not consider a politicians religious faith to be important when they go to the polls to vote.   Another 48% think it is as least somewhat important.

But as fairly evenly split as a candidate's religion is among voters, there is something else that nearly all voters agree on.   They don't want their religious leaders trying to tell them how they should vote.   A whopping 79% of Americans think it is inappropriate for their religious leaders to suggest how they should vote or what candidate they should support.   Only 12% thought it was appropriate.

In the last election the religious right tried to organize a mass political movement among religious leaders, and even encouraged them to announce from the pulpit who their congregation should vote for.   Fortunately that fizzled out, and now we see why.   Americans do not want their religious leaders involving themselves in politics in that way.

Thank goodness.   Maybe there is hope for the survival of religious freedom in this country.