Originally Posted by Sparky Farkas

Love your name, Marthascrewit. Welcome! No matter your positions on issues of politics and religion you are obviously a person who reasons. On this board you will find that constitutes being an "elitist". Oh, you will soon be told you are going to hell and that you "don't support our troops". You'll be called a "Bush hater" and a "treasonous bastard", but at least when they call you a communist they'll be right on the money (except for the fact that no one actually has any money anymore). Welcome to the fray. The rest of us hell-going, non troop supporting, Bush-hating, treasonous bastards will appreciate your unique perspective and cogent argument.

Originally Posted by MarthaScrewit

Thanks, Sparky! They won't be calling me anything I haven't been called before. LOL!

Originally Posted by Sparky Farkas

Love your name, Marthascrewit. Welcome! No matter your positions on issues of politics and religion you are obviously a person who reasons. On this board you will find that constitutes being an "elitist". Oh, you will soon be told you are going to hell and that you "don't support our troops". You'll be called a "Bush hater" and a "treasonous bastard", but at least when they call you a communist they'll be right on the money (except for the fact that no one actually has any money anymore). Welcome to the fray. The rest of us hell-going, non troop supporting, Bush-hating, treasonous bastards will appreciate your unique perspective and cogent argument.

Originally Posted by MarthaScrewit

I’m very new here, but I see many of the same arguments that I’ve seen elsewhere. So.. for what it’s worth—take it or leave it—here is my humble opinion on the whole “religion v. politics” debate, followed by a simple challenge.

Religion and politics have served pretty much the same purposes over the millennia.

(1) They both provide rules and principles for civilization. Murder, stealing, and all the big favorite “sins” are both sins and crimes because they hurt people or they interfere with other people’s ability to live their own lives. (Please note: I’m sticking here with the ones pretty much anyone can agree on. I know there are a lot more potential discussions about what all those sins / crimes may be, but I couldn’t begin to cover all that.)

(2) Both have been used around the world to control the masses and to protect the status quo.

I’d argue that the second observation is the more nefarious of the two; however, controls are part of a civilized society. If we ever reached a utopia where we didn’t need external controls anymore, the controls themselves would still be in place, but they would be entirely internalized in each individual.

This idea of internalizing moral rules / laws may seem a lot like some sort of universal religious code; however, in everyday life, I think perhaps we can reach more of an agreement than we sometimes imagine, no matter from which side we approach the “religion v. politics” debate.

And here is my challenge. Whatever our beliefs, let’s not stop with merely expressing them through our votes and in our conversations.

How do we live?

Personally, I’m a communist. I’m also a strong believer in the Bible, and I love God. Personally, my belief in Communism is informed by my religious beliefs. I believe that anything I have—money, time, talent—comes from God, and that the best way I can express my gratitude is to share it with others wherever I can. As this is my core religious and political belief, I vote with this in mind. I believe in government protections and assistance for the most vulnerable members of our society—whether they be children or the mentally ill or disabled veterans.

Sound idealistic? It is. So is the idea that every four years we can potentially experience a huge shift in government and survive as a country. Somehow, it works. It doesn’t work perfectly by any stretch of the imagination, but it works.

I do not ask you to share my beliefs. Many people believe there are better methods for improving our lives and our country, and that is fine by me. After all, I’m a Texas Democrat. You can’t be a Texas Democrat and expect everyone around you to think like you do; you’d go nuts in no time flat!

So. Whatever our beliefs, let’s challenge ourselves to live them every day. Put simply (I know; why start now?), if you’re a Liberal, then buy somebody a tank of gas. If you’re more Conservative, then perhaps teach someone a skill. Whatever you believe in politically or religiously, live it. If you’re already doing it, then cool. If not, then think about it. Let’s see what kind of world we can make.