Now that Mitt Romney has pretty much secured the Republican presidential nomination, I'm starting to see the inevitable articles about his Mormon religion. I don't get it. Why do people care? Isn't this a nation of religious freedom.
I know I am being naive, but I really don't care about a candidate's religion and think none of us should too. The only thing I care about is someone shoving their religious views down my throat, insisting that state and church should not be separate, and force me to follow their ideals, such as suggesting that an embryo gets full citizenship rights upon conception which leaves a lot of questions unanswered, such as will a mother be prosecuted for murder if she miscarries in the first month, while unaware she was pregnant, because she had a few drinks? You want to live your life according to the Christian bible? Fine with me, but don't make me do the same.
I'm Jewish. That means, basically, I don't like ham, don't want cheese on my hamburger and can live without bacon. I think that last one makes me the anti-Christ in some circles.
I think of myself as an American first and a Jew second. Aside from the food and the importance of education (it was never a question of if you were going to college but where), my religion has definitely influenced my opinion on politics and other matters important to Jews, such as Israel (I can see both sides of the Palestine argument and both have some really good points). But, significantly, it has affected my views on religious freedom, which I interpret as not only being free to worship God or not worship God as I please, but to also not have someone else's religious values shoved down my throat because of their interpretation of a 2000 year old plus book. Then there is the fear of what would happen if some of these religious fools really got into power. Jews, even those who have mainstreamed and are not particularly observant, tend not to do well under those regimes.
I belong to a temple but these days it is more for cultural reasons than spiritual. While I generally enjoy the experience, finding the rabbi's sermons meaningful most weeks, consider the prayer time as mediation time where I get up and stand every few minutes (just unplugging from the world for a few hours can be very relaxing), listening to the choir, while I wait for my kiddish snack, services stopped being truly meaningful in my heart a long time ago, about when I realized the stories of the Bible are exaggerated and probably based on some myth from long ago. For example, a flooded out valley in a time when people rarely traveled far from their own valley could very well feel like the end of the world by flooding. I'd like to think there is something after life, and I'll find out one way or the other eventually (and will never know if there is nothing).
I don't know what Mormons believe in and, frankly, I don't care. I'm more interested in whether Obamacare will be repealed under Romney. whether my taxes will go up, whether Medicare will still exist in a few years and other issues that are important to middle class people. Whether or not I vote for Romney in the fall will have nothing to do with his or my religious values and everything to do with what I feel is the right track for this nation. And that is what we should all really be concentrating on.
I think of myself as an American first and a Jew second. Aside from the food and the importance of education (it was never a question of if you were going to college but where), my religion has definitely influenced my opinion on politics and other matters important to Jews, such as Israel (I can see both sides of the Palestine argument and both have some really good points). But, significantly, it has affected my views on religious freedom, which I interpret as not only being free to worship God or not worship God as I please, but to also not have someone else's religious values shoved down my throat because of their interpretation of a 2000 year old plus book. Then there is the fear of what would happen if some of these religious fools really got into power. Jews, even those who have mainstreamed and are not particularly observant, tend not to do well under those regimes.
I belong to a temple but these days it is more for cultural reasons than spiritual. While I generally enjoy the experience, finding the rabbi's sermons meaningful most weeks, consider the prayer time as mediation time where I get up and stand every few minutes (just unplugging from the world for a few hours can be very relaxing), listening to the choir, while I wait for my kiddish snack, services stopped being truly meaningful in my heart a long time ago, about when I realized the stories of the Bible are exaggerated and probably based on some myth from long ago. For example, a flooded out valley in a time when people rarely traveled far from their own valley could very well feel like the end of the world by flooding. I'd like to think there is something after life, and I'll find out one way or the other eventually (and will never know if there is nothing).
I don't know what Mormons believe in and, frankly, I don't care. I'm more interested in whether Obamacare will be repealed under Romney. whether my taxes will go up, whether Medicare will still exist in a few years and other issues that are important to middle class people. Whether or not I vote for Romney in the fall will have nothing to do with his or my religious values and everything to do with what I feel is the right track for this nation. And that is what we should all really be concentrating on.
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