Introduction
The religion and politics are two mutually exclusive aspects of an individual’s life are not supposed to pragmatically overlap because they control different institutions which are structurally independent of each other. However, the religious groups are generally associated with the politically secular organizations and this bivalence in their association causes the complications of religion interfering with the political regimes. It is also true that most of the ethical considerations are driven by religious faith which cannot demarcate itself from the political realms of diplomacy and opportunism. This research paper aims at exploring various historical incidents and political scenarios that have the clear implications over the role of Church in American politics and have established the fact that religion should not interfere with political system.
Rationale behind the involvement of religion to create a reform
In a secular nation, the presence of any dominant civil religion has an immense probability of converting the image of a nation into the religion oriented nations. These notions transform the concept of a secular state into a religion oriented state that authorizes the religion ton interfere with any law that beholds or challenges its sanctity and doctrines(Barber,"Why Religion Rules American Politics"). In United States of America, there are specific areas where involvement of religions has been inevitable in affecting the political and cultural beliefs of the society which ultimately reflects in the corresponding evolution of the judicial decisions of the state. The two prime areas where the intrusion of religion in political affairs leads to social disturbing situations and these areas are as follows:
The first issue involves the intrusion of law in any course of establishment of the religion and in allowing its free exercise within the state. The problem in this situation comes from the fact that irrespective of any ulterior political motives of the preachers of religion, a constitutional action on the same can lead to discontent from the Church (University of Cincinnati,"A better look at religion's influence on political attitudes"). Similarly, the use of religion to create a political reform that is disguised within the practice of religion is constitutionally eligible for a legal action.
The second issue involve direct incidence of the religious practices with that of the secular law infrastructure of the state. For example, in 1990 the Supreme Court banned the members of the Native American church from using the ‘Peyote’ for any further sacramental use in the Church’s religious activities because it was an illegal drug in the United States. The decision was opposed by the local Church and was disputed for long till the Church finally gave in. Thus, it is evident that the two entities of political jurisdiction with the framework specified by the constitution and that of freedom of religious practice are bound to interact and overlap because both of them are integral components of the society (Cauthen ,"Church and State, Politics and Religion").
Analyzing the problem of religion’s role in American politics: Roe vs. Wade
The issues related to feminist school of thought are bound to fall in the purview of religion because of the fact that this field involves the fundamental issues of compassion and pity evident in the religious preaching of the Church. The prominence of religion in deciding the piety of the act of abortion and absence of any specific laws related to Abortion led to perhaps one of the biggest clashes between the Church and the legal system. Roe vs. Wade was an extremely influential and potentially controversial case that has affected the reproductive rights in the country till date. The case belongs to the era of 1960s when the US medical environment was drenched with illegitimate and ‘black market’ driven abortions due to absence of any specific federal law pertaining to abortion (US History. "Roe v. Wade and Its Impact"). Some anonymous Jane Row challenged the state court’s rule of outlawing any form of abortion apart from the one when a registered practitioner certified that the abortion was mandatory to save the life of the mother. This rule was invalidated by the Supreme Court and an abortion during the first three months was declared ok as per the free will of the mother.
In stark contrast, the Roman Catholic Church challenged the Supreme Court’s decision as it considered the act of abortion to be an impious act of infanticide. Consequently, religious groups of the country came in unison to reverse the Supreme Court’s rule in the case of Roe vs. Wade. This led to a religious turmoil in the country and gradual development of two discordant groups where the first group of opponents of the law called themselves as the ‘pro-life’ group and the other group of proponents called themselves as the ‘pro-choice’ groups (US History. "Roe v. Wade and Its Impact"). However, since 1973 the battle within the two groups got worsened because of political intervention from protestant senators who favored the pro-choice agencies like the National Abortion Rights league. After various attempts from the Catholic Church, the Hyde act of 1976 banned the use of Federal fund for any abortion activity in the country (US History."Roe v. Wade and Its Impact").
This case is still pending with the Supreme Court with minor changes occurring every year because the Republicans appoint pro-life judges and the Democrats appoint the pro-choice judges in the Supreme Court’s panel to deviate the ruling in their own favor.
Social issues of 1960’s and 70’s and Catholic Church’s indulgence in US politics
There is a specific set of social issues of the 1960’s and 70’s that led to prominence of the Catholic Church’s indulgence in the American Political scenario. Some of the main issues of this era are as follows:
The mid nineteenth century saw the evolution of Christian Rights exercised by the Roman Catholics who ensured that abolition of slavery in the North and also launched several cultural crusades to defend its core values against the external forces of modernism and liberalism. They also ensured enough political intervention to wipe out the corrupting influences in the political systems.
The first change in the Christian rights politics became evident in the political elections of 1960 when the democrats presented a Catholic candidate and in contrast, the protestant presented a republican candidate for the same position. The decade saw the dominance of democratic Catholics in leading electoral designations and this sparked the everlasting rivalry between the political and religious groups. The Methodist church was passed as the largest religious denomination in the country.
The era of 1970’s marked a revamp of the Christian rights and is rather termed as the New Christian Rights movement (LeBeau,"The political mobilization of the new Christian Right"). The protestant Republicans rose back to the political power in this decade and introduced the social reforms like those of Gay rights referendum and negated the execution of equal rights amendment in the constitution.
The 1970’s saw the change in the political stance of the Evangelical Christians and they redefined the notion of ‘religious rights’ in terms of the safeguarding political and regional conservatism of the voters (Forster, "Evangelicals and Politics: The Religious Right (Born 1979, Died 2000").Thus, the notion of Religious rights coined by the Evangelicals formed a new political strategy in favor of the protestant republicans because all the Evangelicals were anti-Catholics.
Conclusion
This research paper has covered the various historical and factual aspects that entail the evolution of the religious interference into politics and subsequent change in the American socio-political structure. The legal implications of the intervention of religion are also discussed via the case of Roe vs. Wade. Hence, it can be concluded that for any society, the religious, moral, social, ethical, and political beliefs are inherent in its fundamental national traditions. Also, it is obviously factual that In United States of America, there are specific areas where involvement of religions has been inevitable in affecting the political and cultural beliefs of the society which ultimately reflects in the corresponding evolution of the judicial decisions of the state.
Works Cited
Barber, Nigel. " Why Religion Rules American Politics " .The Huffington Post.Web. April 25, 2016.
Cauthen, Kenneth. " Church and State, Politics and Religion".2015.Web.April 25, 2016.
Forster, Greg. Forster, "Evangelicals and Politics: The Religious Right (Born 1979, Died 2000) ".2012. Web.April 25, 2016.
LeBeau, Brian. " The political mobilization of the new Christian Right ".1988. Web.April 25, 2016.
US History. "Roe v. Wade and Its Impact".2008. Web. April 25, 2016.
