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Reflection Paper

The document discusses the complex relationship between religion and politics, highlighting their mutual influence and power struggles. It argues for a clear separation between church and state, emphasizing that personal beliefs should not dictate political decisions. The author cites the Philippine Constitution's mandate for this separation and concludes that maintaining freedom of religion is essential for a diverse society.

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sherina vinoya
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37 views2 pages

Reflection Paper

The document discusses the complex relationship between religion and politics, highlighting their mutual influence and power struggles. It argues for a clear separation between church and state, emphasizing that personal beliefs should not dictate political decisions. The author cites the Philippine Constitution's mandate for this separation and concludes that maintaining freedom of religion is essential for a diverse society.

Uploaded by

sherina vinoya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REFLECTION PAPER

The church and the government: two extraordinarily powerful bodies. Religion


and politics have the same goal: to gain political power and utilize it to achieve their
objectives. Both politics and religion try to undermine each other in a power struggle. If
religion holds political authority, it obliges to change laws and system of government
accordingly. Political scientists and religious believers assumed for decades that the
causal relationship between religion and politics was one-way: religion influenced
politics. Faith was viewed as a powerful, personal force that could not be swayed by
tumultuous elections or ad campaigns. Governments always played around the church
because the church had the power to dominate people’s beliefs and fears. We cannot
deny the fact that there are certain laws that were influenced by the church, and these
laws are: adultery, slander, gambling, and blasphemy. But in my opinion, the religious
institutions must remain out of the government and vice versa, because I believe that
we do have different beliefs and faith. For example, legislators may use their faith as a
guide when making decisions, but they may not proclaim that a certain law is
incompatible with their religion and hence must be avoided. With that example I can
clearly say that there must be a separation between the church and the government. In
addition to that, we can’t also deny the fact that the people in the government are the
one who violates the church laws, an example of this is corruption. I can’t see the sense
of the influence of the church to the political decisions of the government if they are the
one who violates it. Also, sometimes the belief and claims of the church is contrary or
against to the belief and claims of the government and vice versa. A good example of
this is that before the church disagree with the political decision or idea of death penalty.
In fact, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares: The separation of Church and
State shall be inviolable. (Article II, Section 6), and, in no law shall be made respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The government will
neither support nor restrict the workings of religious intuitions. This country was built
upon the concept of freedom of religion and should stay that way. Religion may
influence the political decisions of the government, but we cannot deny the fact that
there’s a dirty side in politics and that says a lot. And with that I conclude that there
must be a wall to separate the church with the political decision of the government
because we do have different beliefs in different things, and I must say that we should
have our own freedom.

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