美国人看美国 （三）： 宗教和政治在美国

美国人看美国（三）： 宗教和政治在美国

文/罗杰   翻译/ 丹奇

(2011年10月15日)

我生长在一个父母都是经常去教会的家庭。我自己从孩童到少年时代也是经常去教会。我的成长过程中，一直相信上帝和圣经的信息—我现在仍然相信。然后，在我的成长过程中，我记得我们的父母亲从来没有把政治和宗教混为一谈，或投票的时候以候选人去哪个教会或去不去教会而判断是否选他。事实上，那时的媒体几乎从来没有把宗教纳入政治辩论里。

自从1980年总统大选时共和党采取策略试图保住南部成为共和党阵营，改变几十年一直由民主党把持局面开始，这一切都变了。共和党达到目的的手段是与由拉尔夫雷德领头的基督教徒联合会结成联盟。共和党充分利用了这些圣经地带者希望和恐惧的心理。有效地妖魔化了”无神论“的民主党。因为他们支持妇女的选择权，非裔美国人的公民权或者我们这个国家有需要的人应该获得的制度。

自从那时起，宗教，尤其是对共和党来说，已经变成了共和党的一个组成部分。

但是，我现在相信宗教已经以具有破坏性和分裂的方式取代了共和党的政治进程。成为基督徒还不够好。你必须是某种基督徒，一个福音派的获得重生的基督徒。不能是天主教徒，不能是摩门教徒，不能是犹太教徒。不行！你必须是美国福音运动在地狱中经历火把燃烧的一部分。

米特罗姆尼，前麻州州长，就被指责为属于邪教，一个令人想起来就很邪恶的词汇。罗姆尼先生是摩门教徒。他所属教会叫做耶稣基督末日圣徒教会。纵观他的所有历史，是一个好人，一个有道德修养，人品高贵的人，高度符合总统办公室的资格。但是，他被80%的福音派牧师取消资格和被妖魔化，认为他的宗教是邪教。

我相信这些看不起罗姆尼先生的福音派牧师们很显然情愿美国选一个 差一点的总统，只要他或者她去对了教会就行。

我发现这是我们国家和政治上一个令人担忧的趋势。这个国家是由那些遭受宗教信仰迫害的人建立的。但是，现在，我们绕了一大圈回来迫害并且妖魔化那些与我们信仰不一样的人。这些人完全彻底地丢弃了政教分家的宪法，相反，他们植入了自己的信仰并试图强迫国内其他人，信众或者非信众，信他们所信，并接受他们认为“更好的价值”。

我现在相信有组织的宗教已经开始变成我们政治话语中的邪魔。不是因为宗教是邪魔或坏事。而是因为那些组织者已经玷污了并且毁掉了他们宗教中的实则精神和善意来满足他们自己的不容忍和对政治权利的贪婪。

如果我们的国家变成一个我们的领导人必须“宗教合格”的国家，那么离通过教育背景，皮肤的颜色，眼睛的形状，和居住的社区邻居来论断人们的价值就不远了。如果发生这一切，我们就又是绕了一大圈把我们过去50年奋斗所获得的进步彻底摧毁了。

RELIGION AND POLITICS

IN THE USA

By Tadie (10/15/2011)

I grew up in a  home where my parents were regular church attendee’s and I was one also as a child and teenager. I grew up believing in God and message of the bible – and I still do. However, while growing up I never recall my parents mixing their religion with politics or judging who they would vote for based on that persons “church going” or whether they went to church at all. In fact, religion barely registered at all in political debate in the media back then.

That all changed with the Presidential Election in 1980 and Republican’s strategies to try to secure the Southern part of the USA as Republican rather than being dominated by the Democrats as it had been for decades. The way the Republicans achieved this was with an alliance through the CHRISTIAN COALITION headed by Ralph Reed. The GOP played to these bible belters hopes and fears and effectively demonized the “godless” Democrats who had supported a woman’s right to choose, or civil rights for black Americans, or entitlement programs for the needy in our country.

Since that time religion, particularly for the Republican party, has become an integral part of being a Republican.

But, I now believe that religion has taken over the political process for the GOP, and in a destructive and divisive manner. It’s not just good enough to be a “Christian” now – you have to be a certain type of Christian, an Evangelical Born Again Christian. Can’t be Catholic, can’t be Mormon, can’t be Jewish. No. You have to be part of the firebrand burn in hell evangelical movement in America.

Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachussett, has been accused of belonging to a “cult”, a word that makes one think of something evil. Mr. Romney is a Mormom. The name of the church he belongs to is the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST LATTER DAY SAINTS. By all accounts and his history he is good man, a moral man, an ethical man who  is highly qualified for the office of the President. But, he is disqualified and demonized by 80% of evangelical ministers who believe his religion is a cult !

These evangelical ministers who despise Mr. Romney’s religion apparently believe it is better for America to have a  less qualified President – as long as he or she attends the right church.

I find this to be a very disturbing trend in our country and its politics. This country was founded by those who had been persecuted for their religious beliefs. But, now, we have come full circle to persecute and demonize those who don’t believe like we do. Those who believe that way have totally and absolutely disregarded the Constitutional separation of Church and State and instead inserted their own beliefs in an attempt to force the rest of the country, believers or not, to their way  thinking and what they think are “better values”.

I now believe that organized religion has become an evil in our political discourse. Not because religion is evil or bad – but because those who have organized it have tainted it and destroyed the actual essence and goodness of their religion to fit their own intolerant beliefs and political power grab.

If we become a country where our leaders have to be “reliously qualified” it’s not far behind to start determining peoples value by their education, the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes and the neighborhood they live in. And when that happens, we will have come full circle and defeated all the progress we have gained in the past 50 years.