• @smitty@lemmy.world
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    1818 months ago

    There should be a religious test for politicians.

    If you’re too religious, you should not be a politician

    • @Fades@lemmy.world
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      298 months ago

      That is the opposite of what this country was built on; freedom of religion.

      Being religious should not disqualify anyone, but if you push past separation of church and state then and only then should you be disqualified

      • spaceghotiOP
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        528 months ago

        I’m pretty sure that was the point of the original comment.

          • spaceghotiOP
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            8 months ago

            When you start talking like Mike Johnson about how people need to follow his religion and how our government needs to enforce his religious values, you’re too religious to be allowed in government.

            • @Hazzia@discuss.tchncs.de
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              8 months ago

              Or using faith-based arguments to delineate if proper healthcare should be deemed illegal…

              While implied by your statement, I feel the need to point it out seperately because even people who talk and act in a way that indicates they socially accept a diverse set of people, can have such strong ties to their religion that they can only see the moralistic argument in biblical terms (or at least terms fox news or their pastor keeps telling them), even if they don’t want to force everyone to go to church on sundays or stop practicing their own religion/non-religion

      • @Fal@yiffit.net
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        358 months ago

        Being too religious should absolutely disqualify you, just like believing the world is flat or any number of other complete nonsense should disqualify you.

      • FuglyDuck
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        258 months ago

        So… you’re saying ….

        If they’re too religious… they should be disqualified…

        The line for you being that they try to force their beliefs on others. Which, personally, I view as a given when their campaign platform includes “Christian Values” (or any other religion’s values,)

        If you can’t make a secular argument…. It doesn’t belong in government.

      • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        148 months ago

        The Puritans came here to seperate THEIR church from the state, after that it became them imposing their religion on natives.

        The actual country’s founding in 1776 was. Far from religious, and many of the founding fathers were not religious or outright anti religion

      • @surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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        128 months ago

        Bring religious should be a disqualification. You have a higher master you serve. You can’t be trusted to put the country and the citizens first.

      • @ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world
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        18 months ago

        Religious beliefs are not disqualifying, but if that’s your whole way of being, you should not hold public office. Render unto Caesar.

    • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      178 months ago

      There’s a Canadian politician I refuse to vote for because he’s seihk, wears the turban and religious regalia. Of course you get called racist, but I wouldn’t vote for a Jewish person in Orthodox garb, or a Christian carrying a Bible everywhere. It tells me that you put your religion above everything, even your constituents.

      Of course there’s an India/seihk scandal going on right now. Having a super religious seihk in power would have made that one a way bigger shit show.

      • Lemminary
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        128 months ago

        I don’t understand what people think of when they read…

        If you’re too religious, you should not be a politician

        but it’s literally part of what you’re saying. Why the downvotes, because they’re naming specifics of what signals to them being too religious? Make it make sense, Lemmy.

        • Instigate
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          328 months ago

          It’s because adherence to religious dress codes is not a clear indicator of fundamentalism or evangelism. Women who choose to wear burkas, niqabs headscarves etc are not immediately downtrodden and subservient women who agree with religious sexism. A Sikh man choosing to wear a turban and not shave his body hair is not a clear indicator that he’s a fundamentalist in any way.

          Judge politicians by their words and actions, not by how they look. There are many religious zealots who wear simple suits and dresses.

          • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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            48 months ago

            You took the ACTION of putting on garb that says your religion is above everything else. I will judge you for that on the political field

            • @CumBroth@discuss.tchncs.de
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              78 months ago

              You took the ACTION of putting on garb that says your religion is above everything else

              Incorrect assumption. A dominant religion in any given society will influence cultural and societal norms. Sometimes, perhaps even more often than not, the reason for wearing religious clothing is social conformity. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the wearer is a fundamentalist or even religious at all. There are even atheists who wear religious clothing just because the community they belong to excepts them to do so and they don’t want to stand out (applies to all genders). And that’s just one of several possible reasons other than the one you assumed to be the only possible explanation.

              • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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                58 months ago

                At the end of the day my argument is that I want politicians of any stripe or religion to leave their religion at the door. Anyone who puts their god’s will into their decision making process (which all religious people do) has no business in politics

                • @CumBroth@discuss.tchncs.de
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                  78 months ago

                  That’s reasonable and I agree with that. I’m just pointing out that religious clothing doesn’t necessarily mean that that person will do what you fear. As Instigate points out, their words and actions are what matters and what we should be paying attention to.