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Building Political Support Through Church:
How Politics Affects Community
America is a country founded on the right to religious freedom. Upon the creation of its laws, the founding fathers created a religious-based constitution. Throughout the many decades, lawmakers have found it just to change particular portions in order to make it more generally accepted by all religions. The lines between law and religion have been skewed, and the way in which a politician may build support through religion has become extremely sensitive. Because religion affects community, as does the politician, it is important to examine as to how and how much.
Whether or not one is religious or of a particular religion, they may benefit from the religious community's efforts. Religion has long been a force of unity, and those with strong religious practices are often good citizens and good neighbors in a community (McKanan, 2010). Religion contributes to its community in three main ways: First, it provides support spiritually, socially, and psychologically...
It provides spiritual fulfillment to people, in order for them to feel comfortable with things that are beyond the understanding of humans (Howe, 2001). Secondly, religion creates a community of like minded people. The true, historical meaning of religion is: "That which binds us together," and America has stayed true to these roots (Kowalski, 2010). Thirdly, religion contributes material resources for the less advantaged (Flory, 2010). Most commonly, these material sources come in the form of soup kitchens, clothing closets, mission projects, as well as sustaining local businesses, providing job training, youth programs, and day care (The Polis Center, 1996). America has always been a religious country, and currently more than half of all Americans still attend a weekly religious worship center (Fagan, 1996). It is the respect of one's personal religion that America was founded upon, and having respect for religion often makes one want to remain in a specific community (Horowitz, 2010).
Despite America's…
Despite America's devotion to faith, there has been growth in violent crime, illegitimacy, substance abuse, and welfare dependency (Fagan, 1996). There are very few topics that divide a room quicker than politics and religion (Managing Communities, 2011), but the two must be addressed in respect for one another when policy makers create law (Fagan, 1996). When recently questioned about his faith, President Barack Obama replied, "My faith shapes my values, but applying those values to policymaking must be done with principles that are accessible to all people, religious or not (Obama, 2006)." However, despite America's comfort with religion and churches expressing themselves politically, intertwining the two has become a sensitive subject (People Press, 2000). In fact, many political figures use their religion to relate to potential voters (Cline, 1998), while some politicians use their opponents religion as a weapon to use against their opponent (The Economist, 2010).
How politicians must demonstrate their faith is best exemplified through Thomas Jefferson. He declared his religion, and doubts thereof, and did not impose it on others (Kim, 2010). When considering law, policymakers should do the same, and must be aware of how religion affects their community. First, there is often considered to be a link between family strength and practice of religion. Religious beliefs help form one's morals, as religion often demotes suicide, drug abuse, out-of-wedlock births, crime, and divorce. The regular practice of religion is said to also help mental health, self-esteem, and family and marital happiness. It also assists in strength and recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction, marital breakdown, and killer disease (Fagan, 1996). Without considering these factors when signing in new laws, policymakers will be ignoring crucial facts about their community.
Religion plays a key role in a community in America. Though the lines between law and religion are gray, policy makers must determine how to use religion to their advantage. The people they represent are of different religions, and not respectfully listening to all of them could harm or insult the community.
Social Institutions Our media is a major element of socialization for a number of reasons. The first is that it is, to some degree, a representation of the world we live in. While much of what is depicted is fiction, the way that people's home and work lives are presented on television is an influencer with respect to how we view our own lives, and the types of things to which
Discussion According to theorists such as professor of Religion Michael H. Barnes (2003), a tremendously wide range of different religious beliefs and thought on religion (both across contemporaneous cultures as well as among cultures existing at different historical periods) is exceptionally useful for evaluating the literal truth of specific beliefs in any particular society. On the other hand, it may be possible to strip away those differences that are impossible to
In addition, the structure and presentation of required, basic course material are more goal-oriented and motivating to meet the needs of students. While critics initially charged that Net-based learning was vastly inferior to traditional classroom settings, some now wonder if traditional education will survive as the transformational possibilities of Net-based learning, teaching and developing course content are fully realized. The answer is a resounding 'yes'. The reason is that net-based
Abstract This literature review examines several scholarly articles that focus on the role of religion in the formation of student character. Some of the articles study the effect of religion and/or Christian beliefs on academic achievement, while some study the role the Christianity can play in people’s lives as the struggle to overcome obstacles or cope with issues that are adversely affecting them. Since education is an issue that is important
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Being a Muslim is an overriding cultural feature that cuts across a large number of races and nationalities, but many have the same common traits of gender segregation, emphasis on cleanliness and the same schedule of life. My Interpretation During the ritual I observed at the mosque, I was able to notice how the ritual impacts society. The first distinction is that there was a clear line created between those who