Blog: Role of Religion in Politics

http://omeka.lib.fsu.edu/files/original/a1c17b2e9e8534dd504ee16b6841e266.pdf

PDF of Blog about role of religion in American politics.

By: Malika Parchment, Spring 2016

The first of many constitutional amendments in the United States was formally separating the role of religious institutions from the government. Centuries later, religion is still mentioned when watching presidential debates or when talking about "controversial" policies because there is still a strong presence of religious principles in the United States government. This is because the Christian Church - the dominant religion in the United States - in particular has power in the government because of the influence on some of our government officials and average citizens. Consequentially, there are irreligious citizens, or non-Christian Americans that are forced to live by values that they may be indifferent to them.  

This a blog that addresses the influence that religion has on the implementation of government policies. The range of Christian influence on American lives has become the norm, for instance the addition of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, but the dismissal of other religious deities while on school grounds. The absence of uniform sexual education in school because of beliefs that in order to educate, there would need to be exposure to "obscenities," like the human body. The right to marriage is something that was a privilege given only to heterosexual couples, it's been less than a year since same-sex marriages were forced to be granted and recognized. Women don't always have rights to make decisions about their own body's because of the fact that they have the ability to bear children and there are Christian principles that can object to their ability to prevent conception or to terminate it. These are all topics that are mentioned within this blog, they all point out the role religion plays in politics in America, and therefore the role it plays in all our lives.