Political Uses of Religion

In his article, David Domke presents American politics as being heavily influenced by religion, as evidenced by current and past politicians making frequent references to religion in their speeches in order to gain the support of certain voters. More specifically, Domke calculates that, on average, candidates today use four point three references to god and sixteen point five references to faith in their addresses. The author remains biased until the concluding paragraphs, in which he describes the effects on an un-secularized America, even stating that “[democracy and religious diversity] is at serious risk” when politicians try to use religion as a weapon. I believe with the author in some respects, specifically with the examples provided. Candidates, hoping to get elected into government, should not campaign with any one religion nor should they heavily publicize their strong relationship with any one church. I, however, believe that religious diversity should be embraced in American politics. While I strongly advocate against politicians making claims that relate specifically to their religion, I believe that our leaders should have a sense of religious morals that are included in a variety of America’s diverse religions. According to “Religion and Politics in the United States” (Wald, Brown), religion is still important to fifty nine percent of Americans; consequently, with religion remaining a dominant force in American society, Americans find it important to know that their leaders share many of the morals and ideologies that their religions advocate. Therefore, in contrast with these candidates who campaign with only one type of church, I believe a good and apt candidate would embrace the religious diversity of America by visiting various churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques and explaining, although he may not be of the same religion, he still shares many morals and ideals with them and, as president, would work to make sure that their interests would be represented in government.