Elements in Religious Socialization

Building Political Support Through Church:

How Politics Affects Community

America is a country founded on the right to religious freedom. Upon the creation of its laws, the founding fathers created a religious-based constitution. Throughout the many decades, lawmakers have found it just to change particular portions in order to make it more generally accepted by all religions. The lines between law and religion have been skewed, and the way in which a politician may build support through religion has become extremely sensitive. Because religion affects community, as does the politician, it is important to examine as to how and how much.

Whether or not one is religious or of a particular religion, they may benefit from the religious community's efforts. Religion has long been a force of unity, and those with strong religious practices are often good citizens and good neighbors in a community (McKanan, 2010). Religion contributes to its community in three main ways: First, it provides support spiritually, socially, and psychologically (Flory, 2010). It provides spiritual fulfillment to people, in order for them to feel comfortable with things that are beyond the understanding of humans (Howe, 2001). Secondly, religion creates a community of like minded people. The true, historical meaning of religion is: "That which binds us together," and America has stayed true to these roots (Kowalski, 2010). Thirdly, religion contributes material resources for the less advantaged (Flory, 2010). Most commonly, these material sources come in the form of soup kitchens, clothing closets, mission projects, as well as sustaining local businesses, providing job training, youth programs, and day care (The Polis Center, 1996). America has always been a religious country, and currently more than half of all Americans still attend a weekly religious worship center (Fagan, 1996). It is the respect of one's personal religion that America was founded upon, and having respect for religion often makes one want to remain in a specific community (Horowitz, 2010).

Despite America's devotion to faith, there has been growth in violent crime, illegitimacy, substance abuse, and welfare dependency (Fagan, 1996). There are very few topics that divide a room quicker than politics and religion (Managing Communities, 2011), but the two must be addressed in respect for one another when policy makers create law (Fagan, 1996). When recently questioned about his faith, President Barack Obama replied, "My faith shapes my values, but applying those values to policymaking must be done with principles that are accessible to all people, religious or not (Obama, 2006)." However, despite America's comfort with religion and churches expressing themselves politically, intertwining the two has become a sensitive subject (People Press, 2000). In fact, many political figures use their religion to relate to potential voters (Cline, 1998), while some politicians use their opponents religion as a weapon to use against their opponent (The Economist, 2010).