Americans everywhere have dealt with the concept of God at some point in their lives. Whether they’ve decided to practice their faith, question their beliefs or move away from religion altogether, Americans cannot deny that faith is a powerful reality of American personal life and the lives of students around the nation. Even at UCLA’s activities fair a few weeks ago, it seemed that the tables for religious groups outnumbered everything else.
But while religious faith can shape peoples’ private lives, should it influence their public politics?
When citizens approach politics through the lens of religion, they must remember that come election day they are not electing a leader of a particular faith, they are electing a leader of government. Religion and politics do not necessarily come hand in hand. The massive scope of the issues that will come before the next president lies far outside the bounds of any religion.
This is not to say religious faith should, or even could, be completely separated from political life. A recent nationwide Gallup poll found that 93% of Americans believed in a higher power, and 64% of those polled wanted organized religion to maintain or increase its influence in the life of the nation.
For many of these religious individuals, both on campus and around the nation, faith defines their values and therefore influences their political views. Justine de Peralta, a third-year sociology student, said, “I don’t want religion to play a huge part in politics, and I think a lot of people don’t want that, but it does, because when we talk about morals and ethics, they’re parallel to religion. If you’re raised in a religious background, that’s what you know.”
Yet while many Americans’ ethics and morals may derive from their religion, as Justine suggests, they should recognize that these values can extend outside the realm of organized religion. Values can guide perceptions of candidates of religious backgrounds other than their own, and they can influence understanding of particular issues instead of letting people blindly accept the stances of candidates that share their faith.
Voting based solely on religious affiliation is like deciding to attend UCLA simply because Diddy Riese is right next door to campus. While this passion for cheap ice cream cookie sandwiches may be a contributing factor to someone’s decision to attend this university, it does not take into account the specific aspects of UCLA that will affect a student’s college career. UCLA’s large class sizes, challenging courses, overcrowded dorms and tuition are all issues that will have a more tangible effect on a student’s performance at school.
The same is true of religion and politics. While religion may provide common ground between a voter and a candidate, it does not greatly influence the policies that political leaders enact. By voting along purely religious lines, voters can ignore issues of the economy, national security, taxation policy, education and others, and in the process they often vote against their own best interests.
The bottom line is this: Voting along religious lines instead of examining the issues individually is both politically unproductive and unwise. Religious affiliation may be important on a personal level, but when it comes to politics, Americans need to look outside their religious boundaries and vote for the candidates and policies that will best affect their personal and communal interests outside of their faith.
E-mail Fitzpatrick at cfitzpatrick@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.