Faith in A Multi Party Republic

America is for a country that has lasted as long as it has under the present political system that has mostly been status quo or expanding democracy and never had a true coup or dictatorship, an unusually large percentage of people who are fairly strongly religiously motivated. 

Of those faithful, most are Protestant, about 43% of the people, although there is a large number who are Catholic numbering about a fifth of the people. There are small minorities of Jews and Muslims, both each divided into their sects from mostly secular to very religious. America also has a smaller but growing minority who are not affiliated with any faith, about a quarter of the population.

A big part of America's founding myth is that it is a harbor for people who want to seek a better life for themselves and their family, especially in regards to fleeing persecution for religion, and America itself, as part of the very first amendment that was ever adopted to the constitution that it was to be a nation free for people's own worship as they saw fit, that the federation would have no state religion (some states had their own official churches for a few decades after this though), and that America's first colonizers were dissenting from the king's orders on religion back in Europe. In addition, the constitution, even without amendments, has always forbade the requirement of a adherence to a particular faith to be included. 

This has truth in it, as many people have come from dissident groups, making their lives better. There are many examples from the Irish Catholics, Jews in the Russian Empire, and people within the United States have created dissident groups of their own such as Mormons (whom some people might forget began in upstate New York) who were led all the way to Utah, and Protestant churches in particular tend to be difficult to control like herding cats, at least in the sense of trying to make them believe one thing as a Pope can issue bulls for. 

But it is also obvious that religion has a profound effect on politics. Every morning of the House of Representatives, a chaplain provides a prayer. Catholics number six out of the nine judges on the Supreme Court. People elected to government get assessed based on their religion and it's a huge deal for millions of people that people like Ilham Omar is a Muslim. France's Francois Hollande was barely noticed for openly being an atheist while president of France, and people tend to forget that people like Justin Trudeau is Catholic, but people frequently hear their politicians in America invoking their faith in some way. 

In a country that is divided in these days, this raises some interesting questions as for what it could mean in a multi party system.

A crucial part of proportional representation is that it gives some seats to the minority in any given area, although not a majority. You are likely to see that places like the Deep South are not entirely born again evangelical Protestants, and some places like Maryland will not be so Catholic. And you can see where people have common ground, such as in a district electing multiple people of the same party, you are likely to see them not always having the same exact faith or religious beliefs as each other. In a transferable vote system, it is also possible to see where people transfer their votes from and to whom they go, showing who is dependent on whom. A person might win a seat only because they are willing to tolerate another faction, even if they don't perfectly align.

It should also importantly show other forms of how America really operates as a cross section, pointing out the many Black people who are quite Protestant, the Hispanics who are Atheist, Agnostic, or Protestant and not just the Catholic part, and how White people themselves have many ranges among themselves. Immigrants and refugees will be shown as many different people and not a group so easy to claim to be very Muslim or Catholic. 

You can see Jews not just as being presented as one of those employments that became stereotyped with them as Christian kingdoms forbade their employment in acts which were considered sinful by Christians such as usury, banking, real estate, being the husband of the president's daughter doing whatever he does if it can be classified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but also as working class people.

The American Congress and each individual state legislatures should also hopefully be a better representation of their individual states. Individuals will still be elected to singular positions like to be governors, presidents, mayors, and executive officers over particular areas like county clerk or the attorney general of a state, but in many of these areas, no one demographic or party will have a majority on their own and showing open tolerance for groups not their own will be vital to win election in a preferential voting system, and that it is encouraged to run for candidacies for a wide variety of parties, their primaries, and in the general election, some as independents, which increases the odds that at least someone from most of these varying demographic groups will get someone in who can represent the whole community through them being able to unite around a tolerant but effective leader for their own department or function the people vote them into office for.

Getting back to political decisions, it also means that important political decisions like the naming of judges and their confirmation for federal and some Northeastern judges or retention elections for many state judges (or being elected directly in other states) will need to garner more majorities and be acceptable to more, with it being safe to not be agreeing with the president or governor's first choice for the sake of someone who can be representative of the whole of America. Most judges in the past once gained unanimous or near unanimous votes of agreement, and if judges can become that acceptable again, they stand as a force for everyone against the singly expressed election of any particular party or faction's governor or president or other officer.

Ordinary laws have similar effects. What becomes the point of prayer in school if no one church will have their prayers be the one to be read aloud or to become law in the legislature? Whose benefit do you gain by passing a law inspired by your own particular faith that doesn't respect that other religions have their own philosophies, and that you need to come up with an answer that can be defended without needing to invoke your own faith? 

And people who are religious can still benefit from this. Their own sect or branch can become less politicized, and your building becomes literally a broad church and while perhaps a Democrat or Republican or anything else in your ballots or the people you want to campaign for and the policies they endorse, your church, mosque, synagogue or temple, or what have you, becomes a haven for people just like you, not needing to believe that people you once revered and cherished might be in heresy or your version of post mortem judgement of disapproval of the wicked as the country changes over time. You don't need to feel like your pastor, rabbi, imam, or priest, pope, or other leaders are telling you to vote in ways that make you feel uncomfortable when parties become polarized or there is a vital need for a renewal of your parties if one of them has broken down. You can do good for your community, doing the many things people have been legitimately inspired to do because of their faith, such as the many soup kitchens and home building volunteers do. 

It also resolves tension in you, if you believe that your side might have done something wrong or unethical but you are also afraid that another side is worse. It is safe to punish your own side for transgressions to maintain a virtuous side as the others will not be able to seize power for themselves alone, with no one able to win a congressional majority or president alone, and any power that one of them gets can be limited by many routes of bypassing them if it becomes necessary to do so such as going over the head of the majority leader or speaker or passing a law over a veto of the president or governor, or potentially a recall or impeachment if necessary. 

And when it comes to the international reputation of America, it becomes a place where people feel like they want to emulate and look up to as a sign of wisdom and excellence and not as a snobby and egotistical group of corrupt elites and half-educated proletarii who embellish in hedonism while ignoring elites and the means of their control over the overzealous people who vote down policies that benefit themselves while hoping to win the lottery. 

America is willing to engage with people of more backgrounds and find peace with more of them. America looks less like a crusading army to seize Iraq, Guatemala, or Jerusalem for Gold, Glory, and God and more of a partner in a legitimate world for us all. If you want to proselytize, you benefit by having the country of your origin not look like a country intending to colonize them offering nothing but well intended charity and salvation with no ulterior motive. 

As you settle into your Zoom meetings with extended family and perhaps a small meal with your immediate family, for the birth of your Messiah, the candle oil lighting to remember Maccabees and resisting the Macedonian siege, the death of the prophet of Zoroaster, or whatever holiday you personally enjoy, think about whether you want to live in a world where you think that you must conquer the whole world for yourself and your small band of misfits detested by others or must defend a troubled leader for the sake of defeating a demon, or would want a world where others want to hear your message and don't suspect you of ignominious colonization of their minds or not being realistic.