Introduction
Society is very much dependent on religion where most people believe that having faith in a certain religion will make them better people. Those professing various types of religion, will want to follow to the latter the rules and requirements of their religion as they perform their day-to-day duties in the society.
It is, therefore, very impossible to assume religion as a part of societal culture since it defines people and, to a larger extent, determines how various people will react to different situations. On the other hand, for better economic performance of a nation, politics and political structures play a vital role in the society in ensuring peace and allocation of resources.
Whether or not religion should be part of the determinants of political structure has been a question of debate for along time now, with some people arguing that inclusion of religion in politics is catastrophic, while others claim that the two cannot be separated. With reference to three Abrahamic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, we will observe these arguments by referring to situations where success has been recorded by inclusion of religion and politics, and where it has failed.
Islam and politics
Muslims believe that Islam is the only right faith existing in the world and everybody should profess it if they want to go to heaven. For years now, Muslims have wanted to dominate the politics of a country in which they form the majority of the citizens, because to them, others are sinners and, therefore, allowing them to have power is compromising Allah’s teachings (Mayer 2007).
Muslims also believe in life after death but they argue that it is Allah’s will that the whole world should be turned into Islamic, and they are waiting for this to happen. They believe that if they fight for Islam to rule a certain nation, they will be fighting a holy war and that is not tantamount to sin.
After the simmering of the successful days of Islam empires due to colonization from the western countries, reshaping of the states that are strictly following the Islamic law has been prominent though the method of reshaping differs greatly. In various situations, it has been proofed that rarely people do have a predetermined opinion about a political issue based on their faith and that it is the work of the media that shapes the opinion of the people (Pandya and Ellen 2006).
In the recent past, Islam has been associated with many violent movements across the world in a move which Muslims believe is to liberate themselves from the unfaithful rule by the kafirs.
In the 1960s, some members of the Arab world came up with a call of uniting the Arab nations and they, therefore, emphasized of the Arab nationalism rather than Islam (Edwards 2004). Contrary to the expectations of the unionists, the Arab nationalism brought about economical stagnancy and looked like neo-colonization given that the borders of these Arab nations were copied from the colonial maps.
Some Muslims, however, found that embracing democracy can act to their advantage and have, thus, focused on integration with other political parties like the Jamaat-e-islami, while others still cling on to militant ideology of Islam. Due to realities of poverty, un-working conventional politics and corruption, Islamic states have been criticized as not offering feasible solutions and, thus, sending the whole nation to economic problems.
The recent movements in nations that have been strictly Muslim, for example, Iran, is to respect the Sharia law but include some western beliefs like revolution and ideologies while at the same tackling women issues from a more liberal approach. It is, therefore, vital to note that though liberal movements in Islam states tend to oppose Islamic political movements, they often identify themselves with its anti-imperialist issues (Mayer 2007).
It should also be noted that the Muslim nations have recently been concerned with the issue of women rights, what role has debt played in oppression and stagnation of Islam economies and the control of oil revenues. In France, for example, there have been innovations to integrate the north African migrants, where they are expected to give up some of their beliefs while others also respect to a given extent the way they conduct their lives with respect to their religion.
Muslims of different beliefs have integrated recently and are now working together, even in the strict secretive groups like the Al-shabaab. It is evident that Islam is increasingly influencing political movements in the world, including the 2002 joining of Russia to the Council of the Islamic conference with the emphasis of coexistence. Several countries including those who were formally in the Soviet Union have substantial Islamic political influence just as other totally Islamic countries like Iraq.
Terrorism has also been mostly associated with Islam, and many Islamic countries have also joined hands with the US on its war on terrorism though not as direct participants (Culwell 2011). It is a belief that eventually secular forces of Muslim nations will be integrated to the movements of all Islamic strains and come up with a group that is less focused on non-believers of Muslim faith but rather on corruption, colonialism and poverty.
It has also been shown that, slowly, some Muslims are accepting that the war on terrorism is not synonymous to the war on Islam by other faiths, and some Muslims are working with the US in alleviating poverty which is prevalent.
Most Islamic nations are indentified with poverty, corruption, dictatorship and lack of democracy which has to some extent left them behind economically, though there are other Islamic states like Qatar which have performed quite impressively (Edwards 2004). The most recent uprisings in the Islam countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Iran among others show how politics and religion are entangled and determine each other’s success.
Christianity
It is a faith professed by the majority of people in the world though it is highly pronounced in Europe, Africa and America. Christians, in general, believe in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and who will come at a later date to liberate the world, and they also believe in life after death.
Christians believe that a leader is God chosen, and whoever is in power has to be respected as well as given maximum support (Cunningham 2009). The Bible, which is the supreme book of Christians, teaches about giving to the government what is required of a person and respecting the rule of law.
In the Bible, Peter preaches the gospel but, at the same time, asks the Christians to pay their taxes to the Roman government promptly, though, the Roman government did not profess the faith of Christianity. The set of Christians who follow these ideas, are much concerned about how the government handles the pertinent issues such as abortion, public education, marriages and same gender sex relationships among others.
It is the belief here that God has given authority to the government as a way of maintaining social order and, therefore, it should be present in society (Richard 2010). It is a common agreement also that the government, to some extent, helps to maintain the commandments of God.
There are some Christians also who believe that God intended to have a true Christian community which should be based on socialism or communism. They interpret the teachings of the Bible to mean that the first community that was formed by Peter shared property jointly and everybody was given according to his/her needs.
This set of Christians has indicated that the government is unable to prevent crimes since it lowers the moral dignity of men and the society in general, hence, increasing the tendency of crime taking place (Cunningham 2009). They argue that the government was not blessed by God because, in many instances, the government tries to move people away from getting the laws of God into their hearts and, instead, replaces these laws by its own unjust laws which are written in books.
It is of importance to note that there are some Christians who do not share all these views and though they agree that they have to give to the government what is due from them as Peter guides, they believe that government is evil as its law demands that a wrong doer should be imprisoned or punished.
This, they say, is against the teachings of the Bible which requires people to forgive each other no matter what type of crime they have committed and not to pay evil for evil. For them, they respect the government and do not try to oppose it or go against it, but they do not involve themselves with political issues (Crapsey 2010).
Historically, though, Christians have been known to involve themselves in political issues to a greater extent, from the times when the Christians had armies to protect themselves and which helped in maintenance of law and order. The army of the ancient Roman Catholic had to face several issues that at one point or the other had to go beyond the teachings of Christianity which involved oaths, which are used even presently, and being involved in persecution of fellow Christians.
Recent years have witnessed a lot of Christians being involved in active politics, while the Christian churches have been known to contribute very much to political organization of a country (Culwell 2011). Christians have changed their belief about the government, and they now want to be involved in the mainstream politics of the countries to help refine the politics that is practiced.
It is the responsibility of Christians to initiate the change that is needed in countries for governments to embrace the will of God, and these cannot be done by sitting and watching what is going wrong or right. It is, therefore, not a miracle to find political activists doubling up as leaders of churches or leaders of churches commenting on political issues with high authority.
Christianity has also been used as a tool of making people aware of the need to maintain peace during times of political upheavals, especially in countries where Christians form the majority of citizens (Richard 2010). In other countries where Christianity virtually rules, for example, Italy, it is difficult for politics to take any shape that is not supported by the church or more specifically Christian leaders.
Judaism and politics
The Jews had for long believed that kingship was the only way of governance that was to be followed given that God himself had given them a king. With the formation of Israel as a state for the Jews to help protect them from discrimination, politics inevitably found its way into the Judaism affairs.
Politics do not define compromise as a form of corruption but, according to Judaism’s strict interpretation, compromising God’s ways is a form of corruption worse than any other. For many years, Jews were treated as foreigners in Europe and their participation in political or social issues as other communities was limited if not totally shun (Walzer 2006). Their structure climaxed at the rabbi, who was the senior most member of the society.
During the period of Jewish emancipation, Jews became members of various states with different political views, and found it inevitable that they could separate politics from their religion. In addition, the Jews started thinking of forming their own state which meant that they should have their own political system, hence, developing a relationship between Judaism and politics albeit in different directions.
In Europe, for example, the Jews started associating themselves with the movements which had ideas same as the Jewish principles of social justice. Judaism stresses on the notion of fair distribution of wealth and welcoming of visitors or strangers, which they say are biblical teachings and which are serious political issues (Crapsey 2010).
Jewish issues have found their way even into the American political system, where they have been known advocate for political conservatism through their alignment with the Democratic Party. It should be noted that, whereas Christianity and Islam would advocate for religion unity in the world, Judaism does not call for that and accepts the fact that other religions also exist.
In conjunction with that, in Israel, where Judaism is highly pronounced, political parties have been known to put forward principles which largely borrow from the Jewish religion since these parties want to identify themselves as religious parties (Walzer 2006). This has led to a split into the left wing and the right wing politics, though Zionism still remains the main political movement.
In the Diaspora, Jews play a significant role in conservative politics advocating for pluralism while, at the same time, trying to maintain the Jews principles. Jews have also formed a number of organizations both in the Jewish community and at the international platform through which they make their influence feel in politics.
Today, the Jews have made their presence felt in politics by having a Jewish organization in at least every city in the United States and Canada (Culwell 2011). The Jewish groups across the globe are also actively involved in the politics of Israel, and they are also among the major financiers of the Israel economy. It is, therefore, a case of a successful state that has involved religion in its political maters.
Conclusion
That religion can be fostered without politics is a complete misguided notion which should be done away with for the sake of both religion and political structures. It will also be a total lie to say that in today’s society, there is a possibility of separating politics from religion as this would bring more conflict and tension.
Religion plays a very important role in determining who gains power and who retains it and, to some extent, what will be addressed by the existing political structures. It should also be noted that the idea of having a nation that completely professes a single religion is almost impossible and, therefore, people should be taught on how to be tolerant to other’s religion views for peace to prevail.
References
Crapsey, Algernon. Religion and politics. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishers, 2010.
Culwell, Glennon. Religion and Politics: The Biblical Doctrine of Politics. Charleston: CreateSpace Publishers, 2011.
Cunningham, William. Christianity and Politics. Charleston: BiblioBazaar Publishers, 2009.
Edwards, Beverley. Islam and Politics in the Contemporary World. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons Publishers, 2004.
Mayer, Ann. Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics. Boulder: Westview Press, 2007.
Pandya, Amit, and Ellen Laipson. Islam and Politics: Renewal and Resistance in the Musilm World. Washington: Henry L. Stimson Publishers, 2009.
Richard, Henry. On the Application of Christianity to Politics. Charleston: BiblioBazaar Publishers, 2010.
Walzer, Michael. Law, Politics, and Morality in Judaism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.