Religion and Government in the United States

Ever since the rise of the Moral Majority in the 1980s, which led to a state of wedlock between the right wing and Christians, we have witnessed a great influence of religion upon our government; you need to only look at the headlines: "In Iowa, Ted Rallies Religious Right"( http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/21/politics/ted-cruz-rally-for-religious-liberty-iowa/index.html ).

So, what does this mean for our country, and the people that it serves? Well, let us first return to what our Founding Fathers thought of religious liberty and freedom, and the history of the founding of our country.

The Protestant Reformation and Landfall in America:

Years after Martin Luther posted his complaints against the Catholic Church, the Christian Faith had greatly diversified itself, with numerous sects developing. Among those were the Calvinists, which resulted in the rise of Puritans in England. They wanted to completely de-catholicize the Church of England, but the slow progress in achieving this goal spurred the growth of Separatists, who vowed to break ties with the Church. King James I did not support this, and planned on harassing them away. These Separatists would go on a pilgrimage, aboard the Mayflower, to America. Having been harassed by the Kind and the Church, they would sow the seeds of religious liberty withing Colonial America.

The Founding Fathers and the First Amendment:

With the seeds sown, the Revolution fought and won, the Articles of Confederation tested and proven too ineffective, it was time for the Constitutional Convention and the long process of adopting a new government. Many of our Founding Fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton, were deists and followers of Enlightenment ideals. These people were advocated for freedom of religion as well as separation of Church and State, given their experience with the blending between the Church of England and England's government. This was an idea shared among many Americans: the State should not infringe on my personal, religious beliefs nor command how I should adhere to such beliefs. The First Amendment explicitly details this belief, limiting the government from encroaching on a person's freedom.

Modern Day America - A Christian Nation?: 

Having established some basic history of the Founding of this Nation, it leads one to question the claims of America being a Christian Nation. It's easy to see the confusion as to why this has occurred: America was, and still is, a Christian Majority nation, but, while our government has a rule by the majority - it provides provisions for the protection of the minority from the majority (such as a mobocracy), as well as vice versa ( such as an aristocracy). Despite the Christian majority, this does not translate into a Christian Nation.

This claim persists because of how important religion is to many Americans, and the immense influence it can have, whether is be good or bad. As such, utilizing this base of religious Americans, the Moral Majority rose to great influence as these people became politically active. As such, many politicians, primarily on the Right, have come to focus on a large voting bloc - the religious Americans -  for elections, and they secure it by pandering to the crowd's beliefs. This is detrimental to democracy.

Representatives of the people are just that: representatives of every person, whether they be Christian, Muslim, atheist, homosexual, heterosexual, asexual, etc. An issue arises, though, when he or she is only listening to one set of voices, or, in effect, representing one set of people. A democracy cannot function satisfactorily when it is taking such blows.

How do we, The People, Address this Issue?:

Popular Sovereignty. Wield the power of your voice. Go run for office, join in on the political process, watch and observe the government, or, in general, make use of you Constitutional power and the proven remedy to democracy.

It can be achieved. Improve America for everyone.