It is not only unrealistic to believe that religion and politics can or should be separate but it has proven to be exactly what the majority population desires. Ülker, Ö, (2013), stated, “Some global level developments –such as the secularization experience of the USA, the Iranian Revolution, the effective role of religion in the experience of democratization in the Latin America, the rise of religious nationalisms opposed to secular nationalisms, the rise of Christian Right- has revealed that religion has no intention of leaving the public sphere, on the contrary its intention is to take an effective role in the construction of the public space.” As time has progressed through the many ages of mankind there has been one constant, religious influence. The origin of religion is equated to the origin of civilization.
The conflict of interest that has been ethically lingering throughout history is the issue of religion’s influence in Politics. In “Religion and the US Presidency: Politics, the Media, and Religious Identity,” Michelle A. Gonzales writes about how John F. Kennedy was worried about his faith and the Roman Catholic background because he feared the population would worry that the Vatican would have an influence in American politics. He then realized that a candidate’s religious background has a large impact on the credibility and support he or she will receive from the population. This has shown many leaders that people will support a political candidate who shares a familiarity with the general population and religion is the largest familiarity to have with the population.
The influence of religion in the government has been solidified by the origin of the position of spiritual advisor in almost every government. The spiritual advisor’s task was characterized as that of a spiritual animator. He or she was charged with the responsibility of enabling member