politics and religion

[gnr2]

I my self am not a christian, this is not to say that i do not believe in a creative force or perhaps even a god of some kind. However, when i study the history of the christian faith all i see is it being used by powerful men for their own purposes. The pope supported hitler and accepted Mussolini, the French nobles used the protestant reformation to justify rising against a weak king in order to win back their feudal rights in the sixteenth century, King Henryviii used the church to increase his power, used christian faith to strengthen his control over his subjects and become rich beyond his wildest dreams. I understand that their is a distinction between faith and the church but the two clealry impinge upon one another, or perhpas more accurately the church impinges upon faith. I am curious as to know how people accept the christian faith as true when it has been abused, reshaped, used and generally moulded to fit the puropese of politicians, in whatever guise, over the centuries??Another question is; how do people believe in the bible as the true word of god, it has been translated so many times by so many different poeple that it seems improbable it remains unchanged from its original??

I do not mean to offend and i appologise if i have, but this is how i see the chrisitan faith and i was hoping someone could perhaps educate me.

[Suresh Gupta]

Originally Posted by gnr2

I my self am not a christian, this is not to say that i do not believe in a creative force or perhaps even a god of some kind. However, when i study the history of the christian faith all i see is it being used by powerful men for their own purposes. The pope supported hitler and accepted Mussolini, the French nobles used the protestant reformation to justify rising against a weak king in order to win back their feudal rights in the sixteenth century, King Henryviii used the church to increase his power, used christian faith to strengthen his control over his subjects and become rich beyond his wildest dreams. I understand that their is a distinction between faith and the church but the two clealry impinge upon one another, or perhpas more accurately the church impinges upon faith. I am curious as to know how people accept the christian faith as true when it has been abused, reshaped, used and generally moulded to fit the puropese of politicians, in whatever guise, over the centuries??Another question is; how do people believe in the bible as the true word of god, it has been translated so many times by so many different poeple that it seems improbable it remains unchanged from its original??

I do not mean to offend and i appologise if i have, but this is how i see the chrisitan faith and i was hoping someone could perhaps educate me.

I will like to join the thread if the topic is discussed in the background of all religions and not restricted to Christianity only.

[koan]

There has been a lot of murder in the name of religion. The combination of religion and politics is a dangerous one. I wonder if Bush was reminded that "Thou shalt not kill" is kind of a biggie on the commandment list if that would affect his foreign policies? Religion is used in making marriage law decisions but not in starting wars. Now it seems less like religion than a tool to win votes.

So, is religion and politics really mixed or is religion abused by potiticians to advance their careers?

[gnr2]

Absoloutely, lets open it up to all religions, i probably dont know enough about the histories of other religions to comment, but please educate me.

[Suresh Gupta]

Originally Posted by koan

There has been a lot of murder in the name of religion. The combination of religion and politics is a dangerous one. I wonder if Bush was reminded that "Thou shalt not kill" is kind of a biggie on the commandment list if that would affect his foreign policies? Religion is used in making marriage law decisions but not in starting wars. Now it seems less like religion than a tool to win votes.

So, is religion and politics really mixed or is religion abused by potiticians to advance their careers?

Religion is abused by politicians to advance their careers, and they make the combination of religion and politics is a dangerous one. Actually politics should be guided by religion.

[Suresh Gupta]

Originally Posted by gnr2

Absoloutely, lets open it up to all religions, i probably dont know enough about the histories of other religions to comment, but please educate me.

Thanks.

I am a Hindu. I have posted many messages about Hinduism under various topics on this forum.

[koan]

Suresh

BTW I have known another male by this name and had your gender figured out.

Although I am sure there is influence, I am unsure as to how the government is influenced by Hinduism. What policies/laws are formed in India or elsewhere that reflect the Hindu belief system?

[Suresh Gupta]

Originally Posted by koan

.........Although I am sure there is influence, I am unsure as to how the government is influenced by Hinduism. What policies/laws are formed in India or elsewhere that reflect the Hindu belief system?

You have asked a very good question. In india governments are influnced by Hinduism or any other religion to the extent it serves their narrow interests. The influence here is more like exploitation of religious feelings of the people. Amd it is not limited to governments only but all, politicians, social activists, religious leaders and non-government organizations exploit religion to their advantage. Even communists are seen exploiting religion as and when it is convenient to them.

India is a secular country. But the word 'secular' is interpreted by everybody according to their requirements. In Hinduism it is defined as 'sarva dharma sadbhava', means that one should have respect for all religions. This concept is built into the Constitution of India but is hardly practiced in its right spirit.

Most of the laws have been made to control/prevent wrong social practices generated by wilfull wrong interpretation of teachings of Hinduism. Untouchability is one such example.

[koan]

Untouchability? What does this mean and how does the government "legislate" it?

BTW a friend of mine recently returned from a trip to India and he is very sad to have left. A compliment to your country.

[Suresh Gupta]

Originally Posted by koan

Untouchability? What does this mean and how does the government "legislate" it?

BTW a friend of mine recently returned from a trip to India and he is very sad to have left. A compliment to your country.

First, please convey my thanks to your friend.

Untouchability means that there are some people who should not be physically touched as it will make one impure. Now this wrong interpretation of Indian social system has made the life of these people miserable. They were treated in most in-human way. The government has made any practice of the concept of untouchability a crime with stringent punishment. Now with this law, spread of education and empowerment of such people, the problem has been contained to a large extent.