Will religion cause the next Civil War?

I keep thinking about Abraham Lincoln's famous quote "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I did not realize that he had taken it from the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 12:25) "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."

As we begin to make the transition into a change in government, I worry that the polarization in this country will continue, that we will continue to be a "house divided", due to differing religious, political & cultural views. I was fortunate in that I grew up in a bipartisan household. My Dad, who was a doctor, was a Republican. My mother was a Democrat. During the Depression, her father, a general contractor, was in charge of building the Pennsylvania Turnpike under the WPA. As a result, I learned about personal responsibility, as well as social responsibility. I was taught that both sides had to work together. Both of my parents were extremely religious, but they taught me that religion and politics were to be kept separate, that not everyone shared the same views. They taught me to respect differences of opinion.

What is most troubling to me is that it appears that the cause of a great deal of the polarization of our country has been caused by the injection of politics into religion. It continues to amaze me that what should bring us together -- a love of God, a common humanity, whatever you want to call it, is what tends to divide us the most.

John McCain gave a very gracious concession speech & then Barack Obama gave a very inspirational acceptance speech. It seemed as though the divide might start to be healed. The next day I heard Bay Buchanan say on CNN, "If Obama doesn't do what we want him to do, we will fight him the whole way." In essence, remain a "house divided." How is fighting with someone is a "Christian" value?" No matter if you are Mormon (as she is), Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, etc. It just doesn't make sense.

I listened to pundits on both sides, heard candidate share their views, their plans, etc. I did my best to keep an open mind. However I tune out when I am preached at, when a religious agenda is injected into politics, especially when the agendas are as extreme as those of Rousas John Rushdoony or Paul Weyrich, whose evangelical followers want to turn the United States into a theocracy. I heard Tim Daly say on Bill Maher several weeks ago that terrorists know that they cannot destroy us. However they know they can cause us to destroy ourselves. That is exactly what extreme partisianship has been doing to this country for years.

It is troubling to hear the commentators on the right such as Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly & Rush Limbaugh immediately begin their attacks on the new administration, before it even comes into power. So then the other side, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow & Chris Matthews must provide the counterpoint & defend the left. And the Obama administration hasn't come into power yet. I long for the days when news was news -- not biased towards a particular point of view.

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