OH MY GOD

I know this is way past the due date but I hope you haven't read my blog yet, lobdell. Watch this video.

Romney: 'My faith is the faith of my fathers'

After losing ground in the polls in Iowa, Mitt Romney delivered a speech addressing his Mormon faith to try and ease evangelicals.

The former Massachusetts governor -- the first major Mormon candidate for president -- has seen his support slip recently in the early battleground state of Iowa amid misgivings by some Christians, particularly evangelicals, about his religion.

So in a 20-minute address billed as his definitive response to the issue, Romney said he was seeking to be a leader for Americans of all faiths, not just his own.

JFK gave a similar speech preceding his election as President. Yet, somehow I think Catholicism and Mormonism are a little different. And if Mitt Romney wins the primary you can count on his Mormon faith and getting extensive media coverage.

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee appears to be making a strong showing in the GOP primary. With a lot of the Christian right upset at Giuliani for his pro-choice stance and a lot of voters turned off by Mitt Romney's Mormonism, they are turning to Mike Huckabee as the best candiate.

As this article in the Christian Science Monitor says about his recent showing at the New Hampshire caucus:

Mike Huckabee spent the weekend in New Hampshire, where he saw something he had rarely seen in his two years as a Republican candidate for president: People. Lots of them. Living rooms and halls packed with voters, campaign aides, reporters and jostling television crews.

With Huckabee in the race it makes things more interesting but he still is a long shot. Romney may be a Mormon but he is wealthy an has outspent Huckabee by a lot.

Huckabee for President

The Papal States

Sorry for boring you with history but I'm a history major so it's what I do best...

The Papal States are an interesting topic today as many people are unaware of the fact that such a thing ever existed. The Catholic Church actually used to hold almost the entire central region of Italy and even had a standing army. The Church, which is supposed to an institution to serve God almighty, once controlled vast amounts of territory and consequently, it played a huge part in European Politics. The Papal States were conquered and absorbed into Italy during the late 1800’s as part of the Italian Unification. The Pope and his successors for nearly 100 years thereafter refused to leave the Vatican in protest and even threatened the Italians with excommunication if they participated in the elections of the new Italian government. Today the church’s political influence is a mere shadow of its former self, but be careful. Every now and then they try to exercise political power to their own ends… abortion anyone?

Henry VIII

Henry VIII was king of England during the early to mid 16th century. Never before in history were religion and politics so intertwined than in England during his reign. In 1528 Henry VIII demanded a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon. At this time England was a Catholic nation and as such Henry had to receive the divorce from the Pope. The Pope refused his request and in a fit of anger, Henry decided to create his own church, the Church of England or the Anglican Church. He was then free to divorce as pleased. The Anglican Church survives to this day as the main religion in England. Personally I find it interesting that a religion which is basically the Catholic Church, and which was founded by a gluttonous womanizer who beheaded or divorced 5 of his 6 wives could still survive today. Just saying.

Religion Politics and Gay Marriage

If we are to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America.
-George W. Bush

Homosexual marriage is a hot topic among the religious right. Not only do they claim to object to homosexuality on religious grounds but opponents to same sex marriage also cite that the bible defines marriage as between a man and a women and that the main point of marriage is procreation. Furthermore, they claim that same sex marriage will undercut the conventional purposes of marriage. President Bush made a bold political move when he recommended that Congress pass an amendment to the Constitution(!) that will ban same-sex marriage in the United States.

In my opinion, the government has no business telling us who we can or cannot marry and should stay out of this debate.

Abortion

Abortion and same sex marriage are perhaps the top two political issues that are most entwined with religion. I'm going to examine abortion and it's religious roots.According to one ABC News Poll in 2001, "Religious beliefs" are reported as the main opinion forming influence for 43% of those who oppose legal abortion in the U.S. The debate basically stems from the fact that Christians believe that God sanctifies every human life at conception and that aborting a fetus is killing a human. The Catholic Church, in particular, is quite outspoken against it and has policy of denying politicians who are pro-choice the communion.

An examination: G.W. Bush and his religious faith

"I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it."

Undeniably, George W. Bush has been the most actively religious president in the history of America. Certainly there have been lots of president's who were religious and even talked about their religion as Bush has (e.g. Ronald Regan). But Bush's time in the office has been marked by several attempts to desecularize America by way of "faith based initiatives". Moreover, Bush's speeches are littered with religious reverences and he admits to seeking help from God.

To many Americans (including me) this is strikingly alarming. Do we really want our President answering and openly seeking advice from a mythical being (God)? Do we want our decisions made through prayer? No. We want rationality and religion doesn't offer much of that.

Pius XII and the Nazi Regime

This is another interesting historical lesson of religion and politics.

Pope Pius XII become Pope of the Catholic Church on the eve of World War II. His papacy would prove to be one of the most controversial in church history because of his actions, or rather lack thereof, during World War II. Pius XII adopted a position of Neutrality, very similar to the one that the church held during the First World War. This war however proved to very different. Over the course of the war, Pius XII continually received letters from priests and bishops all over Europe which detailed the atrocities being committed by the Nazis. Despite all of the information he received, and all of the pressure he received from his colleagues and governments to speak out, Pius remained silent. Hitler had threatened to invade the Vatican and even drew up military plans for an invasion in the event of such an event as Pius speaking out. Pius XII remained silent however for the entire war. This was a rarity in Catholic history as the clergy had never before been shy to speak up about anything political. Fear is a powerful thing. Today, the Church has no problem speaking out against such things it views as atrocities because they have no fear of invasion.