What's At Issue?

Now that George W. Bush is in his second and final term as President of the United States (barring any sudden provision under the Patriot Act that allows him to continue on the auspicies of being a war time President like Roosevelt), the race to fill the Presidency has begun in earnest. A couple of weeks ago the Democrats held their first debate in which all of the current front runners stood up and gave their first nationwide speeches to the public. A little over a week ago the Republicans did the same thing. Since there is such a drive to get the seat of Presidency, campaigns have started earlier than ever before. Usually by the tail end of the year prior to an election year, you see things really stepping up in terms of debates and speeches but this time we are seeing a rapid run to throw hats into the ring and establish stances on any and all issues. It's also serving to create havoc among the parties as each and every candidate attempts to step on their opponents in an effort to reach the top.

It's rather humorous at times to see the way they will smile and shake hands with one another one minute and then turn around and rip the same person to pieces for having a slightly different viewpoint on an issue. Probably no other issue is as polarizing for candidates than that of religion. I don't think I've seen this type of religious fervor in recent years bar the selection of the new Pope two years ago. Religion is coming to the forefront again already by way of the civil rights leader Reverand Al Sharpton. Known for his sometimes inflammatory comments and criticisms, Sharpton has once again used religion, intentionally or unintentionally, to stir up a storm among the Republicans. His comments regarding Mitt Romney and his Mormon beliefs cuts to the heart of the matter for a lot of candidates and Americans.

According to Sharpton, when questioned about the chances of Mitt Romney, a member of the Mormon religion, as to whether or not Romney stood a chance of being elected, Sharpton made the comment that "those who believe in God will defeat him (Romney) anyways." Now I will not profess to being a master of all religions but I try to gain an understanding of what most of the major religions believe and teach and although I do know a little bit about Mormonism I will never profess to being an expert. However, as a public servant in a nation that claims to have (and does allow) freedom of religion, I don't think it should have any bearing whatsoever on whether or not a person is fit to run for office.

In countries such as India and elsewhere, there are people of various religions serving in public office and although there are times when they are not able to execute their duties due to religious beliefs or restrictions, they make provisions or make exceptions in order to serve the people. I don't think it should be any different for anyone else serving in office over here either. I say this not in support of Romney as a candidate for president but rather for any person in public office whose religion is outside of the majority.

There's something about religion that makes it difficult for us to get along as well as we could. The beliefs that many of our religions teach us have changed and evolved so much over the years that it is difficult to imagine us getting along any time in the near future but it is quite possible. Using religion as an excuse to try and claim someone is not worthy of office is akin to saying that just because someone doesn't like "Star Wars" they are unfit to run the space program. A person should be judged on their merits and what they would bring to a position rather than what we fear they would bring. If people are that concerned about the religious aspects of a person's life and how it would impact their role in office, educate yourself and question the candidate on it.

Our failure to understand or perhaps our unwillingness to understand the other religions of this world are what cause us problems. It's a two-way street in that despite the world getting smaller because of the rise in the internet and international commerce, old assumptions about the world still linger and are what make the world a slightly rougher place to live in. When the war in Iraq began, the assumption of many people was that the Iraqis were one people, of the Muslim religion and that a small minority were being persecuted. In reality, there are so many smaller sects within the Muslim religion that it is staggering to understand and deal with. Rather than fearing the diversity that is there within the world and within our candidates, we should learn to embrace it and understand it. After all, if we're helping in the fight for religious freedom in the world, shouldn't we fight here at home too?