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Religion should not Influence Government Research Paper If you woke up tomorrow and found yourself part of a minority group that was treated Like a second class citizens and denied call rights how would you feel? Every day in the united States minority groups are denied basic rights that ever other U. S. Citizen is grated. These rights are determined by the united States government that is influenced by religious beliefs, even though our country was founded with the belief of separation of church and state.
Proposition 8 Violates the separation of church and state. In the state of California Proposition 8 passed. Proposition 8 would deny gays the right to marry, a civil right that is giving to straight couples. Proposition 8 directly attacked the gay community making them by law inferior and not allowed the same rights as straight couples. Proposition 8 exposed the blurred line between the separation of state and church. The church has used Its power in the past dominate over government decisions and dilettantes against groups of Individuals.
This Is why our founding fathers of this country separated the church from state. However, It still to this day Influences government decisions. The first amendment states that the state may not take principles of religious belief from a religion, any religion, and establish it as the law applicable to all. Yet, proposition 8 was sill passed taking the civil rights from a group of people based on religious groups beliefs (Brouhahas, 2012). The United States Government has debated back and forth weather same-sex marriage should not be allowed in the United States for years.
It seems like everyone has their opinions on an issue that may not even affect them in anyway. According to the Supreme Court ruling same-sex marriage is a civil issue. Civil rights shouldn’t even be a question In a court of law. The Supreme Court has declared that marriage Is a basic civil right, older than the Constitution Itself. When call rights are at stake there Is no such thing as deserving them; they are Intrinsic to our very way of life. Marriage seems as basic to me as the freedom of religion or of speech.
Most people don’t question why we have freedom of religion or speech; we have these rights because all free people have them, because it is wrong for the government to infringe upon them. This is what our country was founded on” (Cannon, 2003, p. L). This country was founded on freedom and equal rights, but somehow we have fallen off track many times (Cannon, 2003). For example African Americans and white individuals at one time could not marry in the United States. This was struck down by the Supreme Court in the sass’s and the California Supreme Court in the sass’s. Sing the civil marriage ceremony as a method of expressing governmental disdain toward a particular group Is as old as the Sierra Nevada. It has been an assault on tolerance (Brouhahas, 2012, p. 1). Religion has been Influencing government decisions In the united States making It unfair for Individuals that don’t live In their same belief system for decades. Many people argue that homosexuality is a sin, and this is the bases of denying and abomination. Christians feel that they must stop same-sex marriage for this reason.
However, according to the bible there are other sins considered abominations such as idol worship and murder, yet the United States doesn’t restrict marriage to these individuals that commit these acts. Marriage is a civil affair and does not require any religious service to do so. Marriage can be done by any civil servant or authorized individual. In the state of Colorado the couple themselves can gin the marriage license and return it back to the County Clerk. The laws were created for everyone, even those that do not share the same religious belief system. His country was created by many different individuals and many different religions; it’s not fair to hold one group of individuals to another group of individual’s religious beliefs (Cannon, 2003). Doom or The Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996 in efforts to stop same-sex marriages in fear of the debate in Hawaii. Doom this labeled gays as Immoral, perverse, depraved, and an attack on God’s principles. Congress passed Doom defining marriage as between a women and a man for the first time in history Stone, 2012).
Congress was clearly influenced by religious beliefs in passing Doom, Inch makes this unconstitutional. The United states government provides many benefits to married couples such as federal employees are entitled to medical coverage, the spouse of an individual covered by Social Security is eligible for retirement and survivor benefits, and married couples who file Joint tax returns usually pay considerably lower federal income taxes than individuals who file separately (Stone, 2012 p. L).
However, gay couples are refused these rights under law. Gay couples are denied many rights making them second class in the eyes of the government. If the partner of a gay couple was to be hospitalized the other can be denied rights to see them because they are not considered family. If the partner Nas to pass away the family can come in and make all the decisions even though it might be against the wishes of the deceased. The family can then take everything away from the surviving partner that dedicated their life and love to.
The government was supposed to protect individuals not discriminated against. Many rights have been granted to United States citizens excluding gay couples. This is unconstitutional that rights would be taken from a group of individuals because of who they choose to love. Not only are same-sex couples treated like second class citizens by the United States government, but not having the status of being legally married will not grant them all these rights that married couples have.
These are the rights that same-sex couples are excluded from by law, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, health insurance, Medicaid, hospital visitation, estate axes, retirement savings, pensions, family leave, and immigration law. Same-sex couples will pay higher cost of purchasing private insurance for their partner and Children it the company is not one of the very few that offer domestic partner benefits, higher tax due to the fact they are taxed on an additional compensation, same-sex partners will pay for estate tax on inheritance from his or her partner.
Married couples can inherit an unlimited amount without paying an estate tax. Separation of church and state is a good thing for the United States government. The United States has more religions than any other country in the world. Scholars have United for Separation of Church and State, 2004). The United States is a religious country there is no question to that, 62% of the nation believes in the devil, that’s far more then who believes in evolution. Yet politicians drag religion into politics. However, no politician lives remotely in accordance with his or her publicly stated beliefs.
History has proven that the more the public figure exhibits religious beliefs in their political stance the more likely they are living a lie. Is it really asking too such to as for some tolerance for the non-religious citizens of this country? Politicians are so afraid to be labeled the atheist by the public that they end up living lie to please the public. There are many beliefs in the country one is not necessarily right for another individual, this is why religion should be kept private and out of politics Oneness, 2006).
To have all these groups coexist side by side is amazing. The reason that it works is because of separation of church and state. Many countries such as The Balkans, Northern Ireland, the Middle East, and many other countries have been torn apart by religious conflicts. It works so well the United States has been looked to as a beacon of light for other countries around the Nor. One of the most powerful endorsements came from our president John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Kennedy said “l believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish-where no public official either request or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source, where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials and where elisions liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all”. Separation of state and church is strongly backed by Seen. Barry Goldwater.
Goldwater in a 1994 essay said “l am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process. ” Goldwater also said in a 1981 speech, “By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars… Can any of us refute the wisdom of Madison and the other framers?
Can anyone look at the carnage in Iran, the bloodshed in Northern Ireland or the bombs bursting in Lebanon and yet question the dangers of injection religious issues Into the affairs of the state? ” Separation of state and church was designed to protect the United States citizens, and that is why it is so important to maintain Separation of state and church in the United States (Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 2004). Put briefly, even though our founding fathers put in place separation of state and church, religion still has an influence on government decisions.