It means that there is a clear line between holding faith-based views and serving in office and getting into office to put into place a calculated, deliberate effort to revolve the nation's laws around your own particular religious ideology.
The idea that anyone would run for office and proclaim that they are a "Christian", or a "Jew", or a "Muslim", or a "Buddhist", etc. is to me violating that line. Republicans want to be a religious fundamentalist party - they want to broadcast their religion so that everyone knows that they're going to enact laws that are based on their interpretation of the Bible. What about the Christians that they represent that don't believe in those ideas, or the religious minorities, or the nones that do not have any religion at all?
I think it's so strange that we don't have the same tolerance for candidates that would go out there and put on their campaign websites: "Pro-life. Pro-family. Pro-Allah." or "Buddha and Country"... I don't believe conservative Christianity should have any kind of right to claim dominance to this nation anymore than any other religion should.
We've all been conditioned to accept that much of the country's politics revolve around fundamentalist ideas - but it's not acceptable and in my opinion it's very far from what this country is about. This is not only a Christian country or a conservative Christian country and that's the message that the Republican Party wants to constantly push.
If someone wants to say that they are a Proud Bhuddist Democrat and their values come from Bhuddism, would you allow them to speak ?
Yes. I might even vote for them, depending on what their "values" were, as well as specific issue positions.
Buddhism isn't a religion, actually; it's a philosophy. While I wouldn't encourage someone to try this, one can be a Buddhist and a Christian at the same time.
I have a couple of questions based on what you have posted here, to the whole group:
(a) Wouldn't someone that strongly believes in their religion sometimes tend to believe that their religion is the only right one?
(b) How is religion different than philosophy and ideology? What makes one religion truer than another?
(c) What if there was another religion in the United States with as much power as Christianity? Up until now, the history of the United States has had a Christian majority - what happens when that changes, and another group threatens the dominance that Christianity has had?
