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Religion is not a sport
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In the last month or so, it seems that I cannot go one day without hearing anti-religious sentiment. This is, of course, completely fine – or it would be if most of the anti-religious remarks that I heard were relevant or at least made sense. The most recent of the comments that I have been privy to was spoken by students and faculty members throughout the campus, even by a fellow Arbiter opinion writer. The comment was that politics are a “non-religious sport.” This sounds reasonable, but a bit of an overstatement, until you hear the follow-up that citizens should not base their political decisions based on “religious presumptions of right and wrong.”
I think that those who speak in such a manner may be suffering from a misunderstanding of what religion is. Religion is not a sport, and it is not a club. Religion is a code of ethics and a way of life, not a team that practices for an hour and a half per week. When Arbiter opinion writer Celeste De Vore wrote that 78 percent of Christian evangelical voters base political decisions on religious beliefs of right and wrong, I said to myself, “That’s all?” In fact, I would assert that the 22 percent that claim to not base their political decisions on morals affected by their religion either misunderstood the question or are not sincere in their faith.
If you are religious, then your faith influences all of your beliefs. Even if you disagree with the common opinion of your fellow Protestants, Buddhists or Hindus, you are still reacting at least in part to the doctrinal foundation of your religion. You see, religion is the lens through which you see the world. Even atheists and agnostics have this lens, although it is shaped through different sources.
Another common misunderstanding, pertaining mainly to Christians, is that religious individuals voting to limit any practice or freedom is evil and constitutes religious tyranny. One common example is the issue of abortion. The majority of Christians would vote to ban (or severely limit) abortion. Pro-Choice individuals see this as oppressive. However, I would ask you to consider the viewpoint of Christians. Most Christians believe that life begins at conception. If you believed with certainty that a tiny baby had a soul and a future, how could you willingly allow someone to get an abortion? You could no more vote for such loose abortion laws than you could vote to legalize all killing but first-degree murder.
When someone claims that Christians and religious people in general should cast aside religious convictions when voting, what they are doing is insinuating that religious beliefs are silly and wrong. Not only is saying that insulting, but it is also terribly arrogant. Is it fair for me to say that when voting you should drop everything you believe and vote the way I think you should? Politics is no more a non-religious sport than it is a non-ethical sport. Government should reflect the needs and wants of its citizenry, which at this point is predominately Protestants and Catholics. I am not advocating a theocracy of any sort, but I do not think that all religious and ethical viewpoints of the many should be ignored to vindicate the few. Voters should be fair and open minded, both religious and non-religious.
STEPHEN HELEKER
Opinion Writer