Even At The Local Level, Religion And Politics Don't Mix

I liked the little story I saw this morning about one local Maryland county commissioner by the name of Paul Smith.  "Liked" it, because it so clearly illustrates the dangers of mixing politics and religion.

Mr. Smith, it turns out, is a self-described devout Mormon.  And because he is, he wants to use his political position to apply Mormon religious doctrine to everyone in his county.  He explained his vote to cut the local HeadStart program by expounding his belief that "a woman's place is in the home."  No need to have a program to take care of the kids of working parents, who should just stay home with the kids instead (he's referring only to the women, of course).  Having stated this in a hearing on the issue, Smith should be grateful that he wasn't beaten to a bloody pulp.

The Commissioner is entitled to these quaint notions as a part of his faith and of his personal life choice.  Anyone may choose to be a narrow-minded bigot - in private.  But souch people shouldn't run for public office; and when they do, and when voters are foolish enough to elect them, they should have enough humility to see that they're not gods.  They become the representative of all the people; they lose the right to try to impose their worldview on everyone.   If they can't restrain themselves, then perhaps, to paraphrase Smith himself, they should just "stay home."

The Smiths of the world need to recognize that precisely because we live in a multi-faith society, our politics must remain secular.  To inject, or worse, try to legislate, the doctrines of one or another church is to descend into the morass of religious persecution - the kind of stuff which motivated our ancestors to flee Merrie Olde England. 

John F. Kennedy, as a Roman Catholic Presidential candidate, was controversial because of his religion, but validated voters' trust by avoiding religious justifications for his legislative proposals.  Richard Nixon was a Quaker but did not carry his pacifism into his foreign policy.  Voters still need to be extremely careful in assessing the religious intentions of the candidates they vote for.

Comments

[Gabbygeezer]

Amen.