God and politics

The other day I was studying in a Post Falls coffee shop when I was approached by a very nice man who was curious as to why I surrounded myself with such a collection of thick, drab books. He gave me the skeptical squint that I have become used to receiving (and more recently begun believing I deserve). When I told him I was studying law he asked me if I knew what the biggest problem with lawyers was. Despite having my own list of problems with attorneys, I claimed ignorance. "They are taking God out of the Constitution!" he exclaimed. A 45-minute, very much one-sided conversation ensued where he educated me on how constitutional interpretation and politics have gone awry by ignoring the religious backgrounds of the authors of the Constitution.

Ultimately, I couldn't have disagreed with him more, and he couldn't have cared less that I disagreed with him. I said a little prayer of thanksgiving that our imperfect system protected his right to his opinion, and my right to live free of his and anyone else's (excepting my very influential grandmother's) religious agenda, per the Constitution in its sole reference to religion: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

My fear echoes that of the founders, that to mix politics and religion is to cede unwarranted power to the government. Our goals in pursuit of religion run antithetical to those of religion. While the purpose of religion is to strive endlessly and unsuccessfully toward perfection, our goals in constructing a government are based in the recognition of the fallibility of humanity. We cannot demand perfection from humanity, and no politician is beyond human. If a politician appears perfect, it is because the only thing that he has perfected is hiding his humanity. An understanding of God demands faith, while an understanding of government requires distrust. To mix God and politics is to take your finest meal and roll it in mud before trying to eat it.

Demanding such a juxtaposition is as erroneous as looking for messianic powers from politicians. Giving any person the power to say that he or she knows what God wants is far too much power to delegate to any one person, especially a politician. Forcing politicians to meet a religious litmus test will leave us with illusorily moralist leaders. Allowing ourselves to be distracted by who is the most "Christian" allows the rise of snake-oil salesmen such as South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose values, despite his faade, fall short of commendable.

President Obama beats the drum of a more secular, but equally dangerous morality, holding the intellectual class up as a paragon against the more simple-minded folk who cling to religion, and therefore, impliedly, fear. He would have people put faith in his agenda, and therefore, the government. But such faith is misplaced.

I cannot judge whether Sanford or Obama are good or bad men, but the more important point that I am trying to make is that there is no way to know. We ought not put faith in a smooth talking man who promises the world through attractive catch-phrases, nor in the one who quotes the Bible the most poetically. Our answers come only from within ourselves, and the most we can strive for is a government that doesn't get in our way of finding it.

There is room for faith in the political process. But place that faith in yourself, in your involvement, and in what you can do for your country and your community. Don't surrender your duties to your government by placing undeserved faith in it.

Luke Malek is a Kootenai County native who, in contravention of normal modicums of decency, grew up arguing politics AND religion at the dinner table.