At the final Senate debate this past Tuesday night, Indiana GOP U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, on his stance on abortion, stated that,
"even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen." This has sent many republicans, including former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, into a frenzy in trying to both
stand for their own beliefs and at the same time defend their fellow republican's own stance on the topic of abortion. On a segment titled
"Mourdock's Mess," hosts Alicia Menendez and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin address the topic of Mourdock's phrasing of his statement as well as the constant dragging of "God" into politics. This then brings up the question as to whether politics is the place for one to bring up "God" and one's religious beliefs. As Ahmed asks, "why bring 'God' into politics?" As Thomas Jefferson states in a letter addressed to the then president of the United States, George Washington,
"legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." His idea comes from the belief that the government should have no right over in one's own religious preferences. However, in our current society, politics and religion seem to always end up intertwining; especially in terms of social policy issues.
Politicians tend to base their stance on issues such as abortion, contraception, the death penalty and same-sex marriage not necessarily on their party stance, but rather largely on their set of religious values. Therefore, when the media covers news stories in politics, such as
Mourdock's, one as a voter makes that connection to the politician, thus creating a heuristic, or mental-shortcut. One can then assume, with the mental shortcuts provided by a what a certain candidate's religious affiliation is, what their stance may be on social issues and then persuade or disuade one to vote for them or not. Although as a country we initially aim to maintain a separation of church and state, the involvement of religion in politics may be helpful for the uninformed or undecided voter.
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