Religion In The United States

            In the United States there has been an ongoing debate on how religion should play a role in government. Now, this is a hard topic to tackle, because in America we like get what we want. We want our food greasy, instant gratification, and our politicians religious. Not only do we as Americans want religious politicians, but  we prefer politicians of a certain sect from a religion.

            I feel that this should not be the case. If we truly want to be reasonable, we need to follow our founding fathers. They said that all religions should be treated equally. In fact, the majority of the founding fathers were not Christians; they were deists. Deism is a religion that believes in a supreme power. Who does not play a role in people’s lives.

Most even claimed to be ruled not by faith but by reason. Reading quote after quote it seems that the founding fathers thought religion was just a bad idea to have in politics. Johns Adams stated that, “this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.”  Thomas Jefferson said, “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

Keeping all of this in mind, I feel like we really need to alter our thoughts of religion and government. The founding fathers knew of what they were saying. I know it is an enormous task to ask the people to alter their views; however I am simply asking for them to reason. Before you vote on a law or candidate, ask yourself why you are voting for them. Most people are so uninformed they vote based on simple things such as what religion the candidate is. This needs to change; we cannot have such prejudice in our country. It is ugly and unnecessary. We, as Americans, need to vote for candidates that will try to make a change to society in a way that is agreeable to us. Also, we need to broaden our knowledge of the people we are potentially putting in office.