Religion and Politics

By Volodymyr Kish

It is generally acknowledged that the two most dangerous topics of conversation in any social gathering are religion and politics. The passion and polarization that these engender create a veritable minefield for the unwary who stumble into any dialogue or discussion on these matters. Disagreements can and often do lead to broken relationships, violence and even wars and revolutions.

What is particularly ironic is that the main goal of both religion and politics theoretically, is to create social structures and principles through which people can lead better moral, harmonious, just and peaceful lives. The fact that, historically, the end results of many political and religious movements have been spectacularly destructive, points out the difficulty of such endeavours. That difficulty of course, comes from the essential reality that human beings are emotionally and intellectually fallible beings, motivated by instincts and desires that tend to subvert the best intentions of any ideology, political or religious.

The impact of the historical deficiencies of these two fields of human endeavour becomes even more dramatic when politics and religion become intertwined. Kings, emperors and tyrants of all sorts, long ago learned how to co-opt religion and its organizational structures to keep their long suffering subjects, serfs and slaves in check. The Catholic Church during the Middle Ages is a prime example of the subversion and exploitation of religion for political purposes. The Popes and bishops of that time were interchangeable members of the established aristocracy who exploited the “unwashed masses” unconscionably. Their shameless corruption and immorality eventually led to major defections and the development of a Protestant alternative.

The Tsars of Russia were in similar league with the Orthodox Church hierarchy whose members helped prolong a repressive feudal system in the Russian Empire long after it had disappeared in most other European countries. Even today, Islamic fundamentalists in league with autocratic Middle Eastern kings, sheiks and emirs are continuing to keep hundreds of millions of people trapped in ignorance and subjugation. Even in the United States, the so-called leader of the free world, there are strong fundamentalist religious forces that are trying to turn back the clock on a broad range of political rights and freedoms and impose a rigid and anachronistic framework of morality on the rest of the population.

Regrettably, this has led a large number of people to, if you’ll pardon the expression, lose faith with religion and become atheists or agnostics. I say regrettably, because this is a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, or confusing the messenger with the message. We should not judge Christianity by the libertine actions of the Borgia or Medici Popes, or the murderous activities of the Spanish Inquisition. Likewise, we should not equate the Muslim Faith with the barbaric and fanatical actions of the Taliban mullahs and imams, or the reactionary legacy of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Sin and evil remains sin and evil regardless of the political or religious cloak the perpetrator wears. Similarly, concepts such as the divine right of kings, papal infallibility, canonicity, excommunication, anathema, etc. have nothing to do with religious faith and everything to do with power politics.

I was reminded of this recently when reading of the ongoing controversy over whether Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Ukraine should be under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) or the breakaway Kyivan Patriarchate (KP). This controversy has created shock waves here in Canada as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church here struggles with whether to associate itself with the KP or maintain its ties with the international Orthodox community which recognizes the MP but not the KP.

Regardless of where one’s sympathies may lie, we should recognize that this is not a question of faith or religion, but a political matter pure and simple, dealing with power, money, assets and political ambitions. The issue should be debated and judged as a political and secular matter, not a spiritual one. As The Bible says – “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s.” Spiritual matters are properly the domain of the Church; political matters are the domain of the people, and as such, should be decided by the people, to be hoped for in as fair and democratic manner as possible.