Robyn's+reflections+on+religion

REFLECTION ON THE DARK SHADOW OF RELIGION

Alexis de Tocqueville warned of the dangers of connecting religion and politics. Unfortunately, America has failed to heed his warning. The dark shadow of religion is omnipresent in America as represented by Georgia O'Keefe's painting "Black Cross, New Mexico". Organized religion has extended its influence from the pulpit into the political arena. Political leaders today, including presidential candidates John McCain and Barrack Obama, align themselves with religious leaders. As political candidates seek the approval of religious leaders and as organized religion seeks to influence the political process, it is reminiscent of the Puritans who entirely interconnected religion and law. Noteworthy examples include the placement of granite statues of the Ten Commandments, a religious doctrine, in state capital and other government buildings. The line that separates church and state, a basic theory upon which our democracy was founded, has not only become blurred but it has been obliterated. The church has been influential in the public policy debate over abortion. Its efforts to outlaw a woman's right to have an abortion, because it violates religious dogma. have gained momentum as laws placing restrictions on a woman's right to choose have recently been enacted by state legislatures.