Religion has long been used to justify acts that modern society judges immoral and absurd. “From the torture of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, to beheadings by Jihadist killers, to the sexual manipulation of children by early Mormons and their latter-day sects,” religion has been used as the blanket reasoning to silence naysayers who question the motives behind religious actions.
Even though Egan notes that religiously motivated illegal acts such as this “gave us all a glimpse into what a religion was like before it took on the patina of time,” it made me wonder whether religion has even changed that much over time. Certainly, there exists a large disconnect between religion and the general American population today, as many Mormons continue to act in defiance with polygamist leaders in utter disrespect for the law.
When Mitt Romney was defeated in last year’s presidential election, did religious groups who seem to be on the fringe of society at times (such as Mormons) realize their religion contrasted with social norms of American society? And as such, how important is religion to American politics? Many Americans fall short in connecting with this “homegrown American religion,” and many are unable to understand the logic behind their behavior. For a nation that seems to be wavering from religion in a shaky economic climate, (Limor’s post—March 31) is this yet another sign of religion retreating or will religion re-emerge to redefine and refill the void that leaves it out of touch with modern society?
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1 comment:
Rahul’s post is quite interesting but seems to group religious extremist, like polygamists, with moderate religious individuals like Romney. I think he is correct that polygamists and religious extremists are losing ground in politics but this isn’t a recent phenomenon. They have always been shunned upon and I think they recognize that they are not within societal norms. A trend that does seem to be recent is the influx of moderate religious individuals such as John McCain and Mitt Romney into the national political realm. The fact that they seem to be successful within the Republican party shows that religion is not necessarily retreating from politics but is molding into a more accepting and uniting entity.
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