Love, Hate, and Religion--and the Influence of Politics
Religion can sanctify compassion—or sanctify cruelty. When faith becomes a badge of identity rather than a path of conscience, it can turn moral conviction into moral exclusion. America’s current struggle with religiously charged politics is not new, but it is newly volatile. Understanding how we arrived here—and how we might move forward—requires tracing the spiritual roots of division as carefully as the political ones. 1. Where we are now Across the United States, religious language increasingly shapes political rhetoric. Candidates invoke divine favor; voters interpret policy through moral absolutes. Surveys show that religious affiliation now predicts political alignment more strongly than class or geography . Evangelical Christianity, once a diverse movement of revival and service, has become a major partisan identity. Meanwhile, secular Americans often define themselves in opposition to that identity, creating a moral binary that mirrors the political one. The result is a...