Week 5:Reading Response2

To politicize religion means to say that religion is choosing a side. You have Democrats and then you have Republicans. Ex-President George W. Bush is a republican, so if he had spoke at Calvin College he basically would have been choosing a side for religion when the actual odds of religion choosing a side are against him. For instance, everyone at the Calvin College might not be a christian, so they might be enraged or might not care at all. And to extend on that everyone at Calvin College might not be a Republican. You can always have a christian who is a Democrat as well as a Republican who doesn't believe in religion at all or they just might not be a christian.
The ones that signed "An Open Letter to the President" most likely had no intentions of politicizing religion. Because like John Zwier they probably looked at the other aspects of the situation. What they could have been looking at is someone with power who shares the same beliefs as they do. Or they also could have been looking at the fact that the president was coming to speak at the school which can give them an opportunity.
It is possible not to politicize religion in American society just because of the many combinations that you have. As mentioned before you can have Democrats who are Christians, you can have Republicans who doesn't believe religion, and Republicans who aren't Christians. So in actuality the only group of people who would agree with with the ex-president would have been Republicans who are Christians. It definitely doesn't benefit any society to politicize religion because how would you satisfy those who don't share the same beliefs as you things could get out of hand.