Religious rejection of politics

Religious rejection of politics is a philosophy that can be found in a life of contemplation of nature. Adherents to this way of life find it preferable, while some ascetic schools of Hinduism or Buddhism also reject political involvement for different reasons.

For the general topic, see Religion in politics

In Christianity, some groups like Jehovah's Witnesses, the Christadelphians, the Amish, the Hutterites, and the Exclusive Brethren reject politics on the grounds: Christ's statements about His kingdom not belomnging to this world means that earthly politics can/should/must be rejected. Not necessarily all forms of politics are rejected. For example, among the Old Order Amish running for office is not allowed but voting is only discouraged, not forbidden.[1]

Others, like the Baha'is, do not take part in partisan politics. They neither endorse particular candidates, or join political parties. They are told to vote their consciences as individuals. If asked to register they tend to do so as independent.

In other religious systems it can relate to a rejection of nationalism or even the concept of nations. In certain schools of Islamic thinking, nations are a creation of Western imperialism and ultimately all Muslims should be united religiously in the ummah. Therefore, Muslims should be in hijra as nations, in the Western sense, are basically deemed apostate.

There are some aspects of the early days of the radical Takfir wal-Hijra that hint at this. Likewise various Christian denominations reject any involvement in national issues considering it to be a kind of idolatry called statolatry. Most Christians who rejected the idea of nations have associated with the Christian Left. Satmar Hasidic Judaism rejects the state of Israel being created before the return of the Messiah, therefore members of this group refuse to vote in Israel. This group does not reject all politics, but it does reject participation in Israeli politics.

Lastly, some religions do not specifically reject politics per se, but believe existing political systems are so inherently corrupt they must be ignored. In some respects the view of governments as apostate relates to that. In the early stages of the Nation of Islam, for example, many adherents rejected the idea of voting because the US political system was rejected in strong terms. In recent decades, however, this view has declined in popularity among Nation of Islam adherents or been rejected outright. In Hellenism, voting in elections deemed 'non-democratic' is not permitted and namely affects believers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia.

In the United States, a recent survey indicated that 2% of those who did not register to vote cited religious reasons.[2] The same survey reported that 22% of Americans are not registered to vote.

Religious groups that reject participation in politics
ReligionAdherentsLargest national membership
Jehovah's Witnesses8,200,000United States
Christadelphians50,000Australia
Old Order Amish318,000United States
Doukhobors3,000Canada
Rastafarians600,000Jamaica
Bahá'í Faith6,000,000India
Shaykhiya100,000Iraq
Hellenism120,000Greece
gollark: I think school could probably do a lot better at that.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: - Ferris (good)
gollark: I'm not sure this is true outside the people who already like it.
gollark: That applies to literally all things which could be taught.

See also

References
  1. Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner and Steven M. Nolt: The Amish, Baltimore, 2013, pages 361-362.
  2. Pew Survey
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.