Religious Influence on Politics

Where does the concept of "fair play" originate? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

Why is it "wrong" to kill someone and take their belongings for our own?

Why is it wrong to kill someone who verbally insulted us?

Muslim extremist fanatics kill the infidel ("unfaithful") with every conviction that it is NOT "wrong" to do so. It is, rather, admirable and even "holy."

Modern American atheists take for granted a kinder-gentler ethos of treat others as well as you want to be treated ("The Golden Rule" in caps) and other "time-honored" principles, like not committing murder, or robbing, or lying. Without thinking about the origins of these ideals of conduct, atheists participate in a fundamentally Judeo-Christian cultural morality.

Prior to (and during) the earliest days of Judaism and of so-called Christianity, mankind was ruled (and plagued) by the strongest. Rape and conquest were just how things were done, for the most part (but not always).

Then religious men, claiming inspiration from someone or something greater than man, said such behavior was "wrong."

Religion informs all decisions, even when it is not recognized. "The Golden Rule" is a close paraphrase (if not a direct quote, depending on how it is phrased) of words spoken by the man modern people call "Jesus." When atheists want to express this concept they call it "The Golden Rule," often ignorant of the original source, and blithely go on their way behaving as Christians are supposed to behave, at least in that instance.

Where did the idea of monogamous, life-time committed marriage come from? Some animals do it, but certainly not all. So why was it "wrong" for Mr. Clinton to go out "creepin'" on his wife (and daughter)?

And if it is ridiculous (or "scary") for a man to claim divine inspiration for his decisions ... it is equally ridiculous (and scary) to follow a leader who claims categorically that there IS no Divinity to inspire. The person that ridicules a religious person's god assumes, without evidence, that there is no god. Neither side can "prove" their position. All religion and theology is theoretical and opinionated ... evidences offered are philosophical and rhetorical, not "material."

(And evolution is a scientifically bankrupt theory because it not only cannot be proven ... who was there to see the amphibian crawl onto land and stay there? ... it has not been proven by subsequent evidence. The only theory that fits ALL of the evidence is INTELLIGENT DESIGN. Researching BOTH sides of the issue, rather than the side one is already on, reveals the holes riddling each. Carbon dating? Founded upon biased conjecture, not on science, and inaccurate. Transitional species ... zero [0] fossil records. Second Law of Thermodynamics? Out the window under evolution.)

Disclosure: I am a recovering Christian, libertarian, and I do not support either Bush or Kerry.

If a politician is not informed by the Judeo-Christian concepts of "fair play," then are they propelled toward actions by "The Law of the Jungle" (take what you can, can all you get, and sit on the can ... survival of the fittest ... dog-eat-dog), or by an non-Judeo-Christian religion ...

... such as radical Islam?