CBN - Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox spoke out Sunday against the rise of partisanship in America over the last few years, noting "Politics is becoming religion in our country."
Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation on July 4, Cox said, "Politics is becoming sport and entertainment in our country. That everything is political. It is a huge mistake, and it's caused us to make bad decisions during this pandemic and in other phases of our life as well. It is deeply troubling."
Ryan Burge is an expert on religion and politics at Eastern Illinois University. He's also a Baptist pastor and he agrees with Cox.
"Our politics has become religion. It has a religious fervor to it now that it didn't have even 20 or 30 years ago," Burge told the Christian Science Monitor (CSM).
The rise of politics as a so-called religion is not new, but some researchers believe COVID-19 helped advance it even further. As houses of worship were shuttered during the pandemic, people would try to find comfort in an online church. If their local church didn't offer online services, people would naturally gravitate to online groups which best represented their political, moral, and religious beliefs.
Although Gallup reported in-person church attendance was rebounding in June, there has been a shift in Americans attending church services. Fewer than 50% of Americans now claim membership in churches, mosques, or synagogues.
This shift away from religion has coincided with....READ MORE
The Christian Broadcasting Network is an American conservative evangelical Christian religious television network and production company. Founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, its headquarters and main studios are based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States.