For decades now, religion has been used to solicit votes from believers in Christ.

Presidential aspirants fall all over themselves to proclaim their deep belief in their religion even though some of their policies are in stark contrast to Christ's teachings. I was raised in the Church of Christ, a mild and very benevolent ministry and heard nothing of politics in sermons at that time. I do not now attend church because I do not believe in any organized religion. However, I do believe in God and the teachings of Christ. His message was one of love, love your neighbor, and forgiveness. I do not believe that God would be very pleased with the religious right and how it has managed to embed religion into the mud bath of politics sullying both religion and politics. Jesus made clear that being "holier than thou" was not going to be rewarded in heaven and that a person would be judged according to his/her acts and what was in a person's heart and most of all, how a person treated others, especially the least amongst us. From even the beginnings of the 2008 campaign, Obamas opponents have been attempting to otherize him, to paint him as fundamentally different from real Americans. His education, international upbringing, organizing background, race, celebrity, etc. have all been incorporated into attacks at some point. His faith just serves as another opportunity to sow confusion and mistrust. While focusing on elected officials religions isnt a new political tactic, this time it feels like a more extreme version. After all, right-wing media have embarked on a sustained campaign to convince their audience that the President is a Muslim, and two-thirds of Republicans and Tea Partiers think Islam is incompatible with American values.

Egyptians are, for the most part, confused about what role religion should have in their everyday life. One of my Professors (a Christian) recently explained her fears of a Cairo ruled by "the Islamists" meaning the Muslim Brotherhood. Students are caught between wanting to be a secular Western-leaning nation, and a Muslim nation. No one I have met believes the two can exist simultaneously. Many of the students I have spoken to about religion associate religion with backwardness and dismiss the role of religion in politics. A recent trip to Jerusalem gave me an alternate perspective on the role of religion in politics. I learned that religion is often utilized as a political tool by the political elite in both Israel and Egypt.

but it became apparent that the turning point was Ronald Reagan. Thats when we began seeing a distinctly religious
approach to the White House that benefited the president politically and often in a partisan way. Across all of the different kinds of text we studied, it was an amazing pattern. All the evidence just kept pointing to Reagan.

The religious conservatives werent happy with Carter, says Domke. In the next election, it was clear that their vote
was up for grabs. Both Republicans and Democrats realized that fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals were going to be a sizable voting block, now engaged in a way that they hadnt been for decades. The vast majority of Americans are people of religious faith, says Domke, but I am concerned that this is a very dangerous pattern for democracy. If political candidates can frame their messages in terms of religion and then stamp their policies with Gods will, there can be dangerous consequences. Weve seen it repeatedly throughout history. Kevin and I see politics and religion as distinct tapestries in the American story. They are woven together, but they should not be fused.

This is a common argument from religious figures, as though the separation were a massive gulf. In fact, it is not. No one argues that voters of whatever faith should not be allowed to vote along whatever lines they wish. Moreover, the

separation of church and state has been narrowing for decades. The reason it is there is to protect churches, not just atheists or liberal elites. Were a particular faith become the established church of this nation, it would be only detrimental to religion in the United States. Chaput even acknowledges this fact. My objection to his line of reasoning is based on the use of Catholic law to intimidate and punish voters. No oneno person, no body, no authority, no one is allowed under our system to force a citizen to vote one way or the other, nor to punish that citizen for their vote. This is one of the most important features of our democratic process, embodied in the secret ballot that allows citizens to freely vote their minds without fear of persecution. Abortion is a central issue to the Catholic Church, but Chaput would have us believe that the Church is some collective mind, unified and sure of its position. The fact that few bishops have unequivocally supported his call is clear evidence otherwise. I firmly recognize and fully support the right of individuals to make choices between candidates based on the morality of certain stands those candidates might make. If you do not support abortion rights, then a vote for John Kerry might not be a good idea. What makes me object is the sense that this is not a true moral stand, but instead a convenient political ploy. Are we really to believe that, though silent for more than 30 years since Roe vs. Wade, the sudden attempt to exclude politicians from the Catholic Church is simply a moral stand? Are we to believe that the Catholic Church only just realized that John Kerry and Senator Kennedy have supported abortion rights? And what about Republicans who support abortion rights, like Governor Schwarzenegger? Let us hope that our politicians and out citizens stand firm against these attempts to intimidate them and to influence the election process. It is not the moral objections that are repugnant here, far from it; rather, it is the idea of using religious censure to punish people for voting their own conscience, or for holding their own beliefs, that goes against the ideals of American politics.

As with any strong belief system, misguided leaders from various religious, political, and cult-based backgrounds have utilized religion as the crux to infiltrate minds, brain-wash, and control those who are deprived of positive influences. Probably the most well-known example in recent years of this misuse of people's trust on false grounds of greatly misinterpreted religious ideology is that of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. This is religious extremism at its worst. Bin Laden was able to take his twisted views of a religion widely known to its followers to be peaceful, and force his perceptions down the throats of the less fortunate who were looking for a leader. By having strong convictions and offering a home, a place of belonging, to the lost souls that Osama bin Laden came to misguide, he was able to perpetuate his vision and convince people to do horrendous things that were unimaginable up to that point. Instead of him carrying out the so called Gods plan, he sent young men to their deaths to prove a twisted political and religious point. It's nearly unfathomable to think that he had so much control, so much power over those men that they honestly believed that they were doing something right in the eyes of God by hijacking 4 airplanes on 9/11/2001 that were full of hundreds of innocent passengers and taking them to their final destinations that is now a part of permanent memory for the rest of the world.

They say politics and religion are inseparable. I say politics and theocracy are inseparable. Religion has no connection to politics and its a shame to use religion in politics. Religion is absolute; politics is changing, there is no relation between politics and religion in Islam, and the idea of the Islamic theocratic state was only established to use religion in a domain where religion has no natural place.

Modern states should determine what shape its relation with religion takes. This is a very thorny question but we have to face it. The modern state is always entitled to create a parallel frame to organise the private life of the people aside from religion, and it deepens this dualism. We should resolve this challenge
I thought about what religion and faith mean to me. I believe that both religion and faith are designed to enrich peoples souls and give them the strength to overcome whatever obstacles life throws at them. Faith is meant to keep peoples hope alive and is what allows people to push forward, even in the face of impossible feats.
This problem is not limited to just the Catholic religion, but rather, spans across all religions. It is now easier than ever for religious leaders to use religion as a tool to mold peoples views and opinions. By guilting congregations into believing that they are not true members of a certain religion unless they hold specific views, it causes religion to harm people instead of make them stronger, thus defeating the purpose of being religious.

While religion is thought to feed the human spirit, we now live in a different time. It is terrible to think that something as powerful as faith is being used as a manipulative political weapon that knows no boundaries. As the line between Church and State disappears, religion will continue to be used as a tool to manipulate unsuspecting people for political purposes.

While there are many positive aspects to religion from both the social and personal perspective, those who twist and contort any religion's core principles have a means to prey upon those who are poor, weak, misguided, uneducated, or that in one way or another suffer from feelings of being lost or lonely in a demanding world. These so-called leaders use religion as a mode of control and having power over others. By having strong convictions and offering a home, a place of belonging, to the lost souls that Osama bin Laden came to misguide, he was able to perpetuate his vision and convince people to do horrendous things that were unimaginable up to that point. Instead of him carrying out the so called Gods plan, he sent young men to their deaths to prove a twisted political and religious point. It's nearly unfathomable to think that he had so much control, so much power over those men that they honestly believed that they were doing something right in the eyes of God by hijacking 4 airplanes on 9/11/2001 that were full of hundreds of innocent passengers and taking them to their final destinations that is now a part of permanent memory for the rest of the world.

Lets stand firm together .