Doug King does an excellent job commenting on two works dealing with religion, government, and politics. (link)
I just started reading Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a book I had long put off, mostly because I thought it would be like all the other popular self-help books. The last self-help book I read was Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. I thought that pretty much summed it all up for me, and there was no need to go into much more detail than what Carnegie had said.
However, my interest was sparked in the area of self-help books by a presentation at my job by the authors of Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas. Delving into that subject, I found the entire subject very shallow, as if I was skimming the surface of something very important, but the authors refused to look deeper.
The depth I am speaking of is religion. See, Covey admits that our ideas, our very being, changes the way we see the world and the way we think and the way we act. And beneath all of that is a system of fundamental, core assumptions and beliefs. These assumptions and beliefs are what I call religion.
Some people confuse religion and organized religion. One is a system of beliefs. The other is a group of people working in accordance with a common system of beliefs. For instance, the LDS religion is the set of core values and beliefs taught by the LDS church, but my religion can be different from that even though I am a member of the church. I try to keep my core beliefs congruent with the LDS religion, but I have to admit, they are two different things. At the very least, I don’t completely fathom the entire set of beliefs that the LDS religion contains. On the other hand, changing ones beliefs is a very difficult and involved process, one which I don’t entirely understand and can only explain supernaturally.
Now, with that said, it is logical to conclude that in a society, the religion that the people hold is very important. In fact, it is the most important question. What do people really believe and think? How do they interpret the world around them? This will determine so much about how the society is. Are they vicious and cruel to each others, or are they compassionate and kind? Do they work hard, hoping for the best, or do they throw their hands up in desperation at the evils in the world? How much trust do they put into humanity and the human condition, or are they focused on some perfect example (real or imagined)?
And in a society, the religion determines what kind of government exists. A people who believe that individuals have God-given rights that cannot be revoked but can be trampled will want a government that preserves those rights. A people who believe that God has given the power to rule to a handful of them will want a king. The religion affects the laws as well. That’s why the people of Israel would kill someone who worshiped an idol, while other societies would kill someone who did not.
What about politics? Politics, in my mind, is simply the grand realm of ideas where people try to change each other’s opinions, views and beliefs. Politics occurs when a missionary knocks on a door. It occurs when a friend talks with a neighbor. It occurs when an ad about dish soap appears on TV. In short, politics is the economy of influence.
Now, our collective religion, or the religion of the vast majority of the people, dictate that the political realm is the right realm to determine who should occupy which position in government, what laws should be passsed or rescinded, and even which countries we should go to war with. However, our religion dictates that the arena of politics is wholly inappropriate to determining innocences or guilt, and the assignment of punishment for a particular case. Politics is the wrong place to determine property rights, or to assess whether someone is liable for damages and how much those damages should be.
Now we live in a world where most people believe that organized religion shouln’t be established by the government. I happen to agree. I happen to like the fact that that is in the first amendment. But it doesn’t say that religion is banned from all government debates and from the political realm. No, that would be absurd. If no one could talk about any belief, why, there would be nothing to talk about at all.
So that’s how I view how everything fits together.
