Opinion: Religion in Politics
By Dawson Beard, Skyline Columnist
In the interest of full transparency, I am a Christian man. As a Christian man, I hate to see the drastic decline in people who identify as Christian, or with any religion at all, in contemporary society. For this reason, I am always happy to hear prominent public figures, especially politicians, bolster their viewpoints with their religious values. What infuriates me, however, is that there are certain politicians who make a mockery of Christianity and other religions by spewing nonsense and exhibiting their complete lack of understanding of whatever religion they choose to observe, at that moment, to advance their personal or political agenda.
One glaring example of this phenomenon is when, in a 2020 puff piece, Vice President Kamala Harris was talking to her husband, Doug Emhoff, about why she loves Hanukkah. For those who don’t know, Doug Emhoff is Jewish. Harris, however, is not. Doug Emhoff asking Harris what she loves about Hanukkah is just as insightful as someone asking me what I love about Hanukkah, because neither of us know what we are talking about on the subject. The only difference between Harris and I is that I am willing to admit that fact. Vice President Harris, as well as other politicians nationwide, on the other hand, will pretend she knows what she is talking about, and with her famous word salad, spin the holiday into a woke occasion in which to push her social justice agenda.
“I love Hanukkah, because it really is about the light,” Harris said, “and bringing light where there has been darkness, and there is so much work to be done in the world to bring light… fighting for justice, and fighting for the dignity of all people, and it's about rededication.”
Did you learn anything from that, or did it just sound like a progressive political message with semi-religious undertones? Prominent Jewish figures in the media, such as Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire, called her out on her blatant attempt to use a religion she is not a part of to advance her political agenda.
While I do believe that many of the traditional American values this country was built upon have their foundation in religion, I reject any politician who seeks to exploit religion for political gain, and I oppose efforts to overlook other religions through legislation. We are seeing the latter with Republicans in the Texas State legislature who have proposed a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom in the state. America is a melting pot of religious ideas and beliefs. Religion has just as much of a place in politics as anywhere else, but any attempt to exploit these sacred beliefs for selfish reasons, or to blatantly favor one religion over another, is simply un-American.