Faith in Washington D.C. has recently begun to take more prominent roots in United States politics.
Faith has prominently influenced politics since the inception of the United States. This is true regardless of the separation of church and state. For instance, in our Declaration of Independence we find this sentence. It states, “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights…” Scholars have debated for centuries. They question whether the Founding Fathers were talking strictly about the Christian God. Alternatively, they may have meant a higher power in general.
We can find modern examples of religious influence in our education system. The pledge of allegiance taught in most public and private schools in the United States was adopted in 1892., but on in the 1950’s did they add the phrase “One nation under God”. The phrase is what I find to be “towing the line.” It lies between encouraging religious teaching in school and merely mentioning it.
During the Cold War the United States Government became increasingly worried about the possible influence of the Communist Party. To deter American’s thinking socially, they started to advocate for more religious verbiage in schools and government across the nation. For the government Communist were godless and Americans were good Christian men and women.
Regardless of what we preach in school, knowingly or not, religion in schools is one thing. However, having it affect our nation’s politics is another. According to the Pew Research Center, about 87.8% of US Congress consider themselves to be Christian. Having the vast majority of Congress consider themselves Christians makes one wonder if their personal views affect their political views.
According to the Pew Research Center diagram, we can clearly see the overwhelming percentage of religious-affiliated members. Another point to make is around 76.4% of Democrats consider themselves Christians, and an astounding 98.9% of Republicans consider themselves Christians. Most outwardly, Christians in the Republican party have some of the loudest voices in Congress. For instance, Lauren Boebert, the right-wing, self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist.
Lauren Boebert is from my home-state of colorful Colorado. She currently she represents the 4th congressional district. In recent years she has various legal and family troubles, including her son being arrested for vehicle and property trespassing. In early September of 2023, she was kicked out of a showing of “Beetlejuice the Musical.” This was due to illicit and lewd behavior.
My point with bringing up Lauren Boebert is to highlight her strong support. She advocates for little to no separation of Church and State. She has repeatedly stated that she wants religion in politics. She disregards the religious freedoms our nation was founded on.
Lauren Boebert is not the only Republican who shares the same views. In recent months, it is a growing trend to become more conservative on very controversial policies. For example, in 2022, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court made a ruling. They decided that states now control whether a woman can access an abortion in her state. The Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade which has been a stable of American freedoms since the 70’s. In the next administration, I fear we will begin to lose more of our “unalienable” rights. Conservative viewpoints seem to dominate policy making.
Regardless of whether The United States was founded on Christian values, each citizen’s religious freedoms take precedence. The United States need to continue forwards, not divulge into the “good old times”.
Resources
Miller, S.(2016). Pledge of Allegiance Adopted by Congress: On this Day, June 22. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/news/pledge-allegiance-adopted-congress-day-june-22
Pew Research Center.(2023). The Religious Composition of the 118th Congress. Pew Reseach Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-2023/
Suliman, A, Bella, T.(2022) GOP Rep. Boebert: ‘I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk’. The Washington Post.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/28/lauren-boebert-church-state-colorado/