That old adage about never discussing religion or politics is not observed in my home. It is my belief, in our increasingly secular society, that religion and politics are two subjects of special concern. Both are at a junction. They interact with each other and both clerics and politicians use each other’s tools to proselytize. In some ways they are symbiotic. They feed off of each other. Both use each other despite their denials. Both are in troubled times.
Religion can be intrusive in our daily lives. In Canada we see the Hassidic with his dreadlocks, the Sikh with turban and beard of the five Ks of the tenth guru, the Bedouin with her hijab, the horse and buggy of the Amish, each submitting to the rigours of the past with little recompense for change, fashion or technology. They are all part of the pageantry that is Canada.
Politics plays lip service to religion and the religious return the hypocrisy. Religion is in sharp decline while politics is increasingly in disrepute. We seem to find more and more fault with leaders of morality and of state. Frankly, they have failed us for too long. Their scripts of religion have become hollow and faith a fantasy. Why can the religion of Muhammed promise houri to the man of faith while Christians offer nothing but to sit at the right hand of the son of God? Frankly, the fiction of Christian purgatory sounds more inviting.
But it is like the hollow promises of desperate politicians. It is not the promises they keep that matter as much as their corrupt philosophies. Would you really sit still for a politician who promised you laissez-faire administration where there would be no regulations of business and no checking of what few rules are left? Instead, this politician tells you that his opponent is a thief and he is going to establish law and order. Have you ever asked an NDP what they would really do if they formed a government? Or asked a liberal what liberalism stands for?
I have always been fascinated with the rationale that people will attach to their religious beliefs or political support. You should ask people serious questions about this. It might open your eyes to what you might believe and help support.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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