Why Religion Makes For Bad Government

The religious would have us believe that if only we had more religion, then everything would be better.  Our governments and our schools would be better, crime would go down, the sun would come out, and birds would sing.  If only more of us were believers.  If only our laws matched “gods” laws.  You can hear it in the pulpit and sadly, you can hear it from some of our elected officials.

But, is that in fact true?

Statistically, the answer is no.  If one were to look at the SAT scores by state, and the FBI crime statistics by state, you will find the states in the bible belt rank lower in SATs and higher in crime than other states.  A 2008 study on religion and intelligence disclosed that Atheist scored 5.89 IQ points higher than “dogmatic” religious people – the difference was less when compared to less religious people.  That does not mean religion makes a person less intelligent, it only means that more intelligent people are less religious.

But, how does religion play out in public practice?  Personally, I’d call it a farce.  Need I list the numbers of government officials and religious leaders that screamed the loudest about morals and religion, just before the cameras rolled on their confession before the public about that affair?  Need I list the numbers of anti-homosexual crusaders caught in homosexual affairs?  Let me ask, how many people in prison right now are religious?  Answer: all of them.  While religion may claim to be the mother of all morals and development, it simply is not true. 

History bears this out.  There was a time when religion nearly ruled the entre planet.  From the king to the lowest slave, religion was woven through out society, and people willingly (or most of them did) accepted this as the norm.  If you will kindly remember, they called that era the Dark Ages.  Yes the Dark Ages, when scientific endeavor was repressed and if you got out of line with the church they disemboweled you or burned you at the stake – publicly.  Free speech, human rights, equality, the things one would expect from the claimed enlightenment and freedom of religion, were nonexistent.

But even in today’s societies it is no better in some places.  The worst offenders are in the Middle East, where the religion is the government, where women and children are abused mercilessly and science and truth must bear the stamp of the Mullahs approval.  Even in small town America women today are subject to their husband, forced to wear certain clothing, denied medical care, and science and history are subject to religious rewrites.  Can you spell Texas? 

No, religion continues to force its way into our lives and its affect has not been positive.  Even in Jacksonville, we have elected officials attempting to use their religious opinion to deny qualified persons, seats on a human rights commission of all things!  A human rights Commission!!!

Perhaps the answer to society’s woes is not religion or more faith, as those of faith seem to think?  Perhaps the answer is for us to drop our personal opinions – for that is exactly and only what religion is – and to govern ourselves by objective reason, scientific fact, and with the good of society in mind?  Perhaps the day of “My god said so…”, is passing?

Sadly, that day is far out on the horizon.  Today we still live in a world where those in power will use that power to enforce their personal opinion, their religion; Councilmen Yarborough and Redman come to mind, and that is why religion makes for bad government.