Religion and politics -It's culturally accepted that these are the two topics one should avoid in "civilized conversation." The taboo of mixing the two topics also extends to the Constitution of the United States, in which it clearly states that there is to be a separation of church and state, but is there, really? This is a question that I regularly pose to my religious studies students.
If you look at the way religion is being invoked during the ongoing government shutdown, it's hard to believe that religion and politics are separate entities. Just this week, in the midst of Congress’ turmoil, Republican Representative Michelle Bachmann invoked Christian religious imagery from the Book of Revelation in her commentary on current events.
In her statement, Bachmann basically states that we are living in the “end times”, the Christian end of the world that culminates with the second coming of Jesus Christ, and she knows this because the Book of Revelation gives us what she (and many fundamentalist Christians) calls “signs of the times.” She then ends by encouraging us not to fear, but to celebrate the return of Jesus instead – I wonder how many furloughed government workers feel like celebrating right now. It’s as if she and members of her party who share her extreme beliefs are using these religious scriptures to deny the gravity of their actions and their impact on the lives of thousands of laid off government workers.
She then argues, “when we see up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were told this; these days would be as the days of Noah.”
Maybe so, Michelle, but I think your ideas of what constitutes “right and wrong” are very different than those of many Americans. Then again, you and your Tea Party have called offering affordable healthcare to millions of Americans in need “wrong”, so maybe you aren’t so far off the mark after all. Though, somehow I still doubt it.
