Gandhi Views on Religion and Politics:
His views on religion and its relationship with politics are quite different from those of many a political philosopher of the Modern Age. The striking characteristics of politics in the Middle Ages were that it was never free from the influence of religion. It is only in the Modern Age that politics is being looked upon as a secular activity i.e. politics must be completely free from religion. Gandhi, on the other hand, has spiritualized politics. He is opposed to separating religion from politics. He condemned politics which is divorced from religion. His view in that politics should rest on the foundations of religion. One should not get irreligious in the name of politics. Devoid of religious influence, the modern politics has turned more corrupt, selfish, unreliable, materialistic and opportunistic. This politics which has been separated from religious influence is nothing but the politics of force and fraud. Politics without religion is lifeless. Those who maintain that religion has no relationship with politics, do not understand the connotation of religion at all. There could be no politics without religion; politics must be subordinated to religion. Politics without religion is a death trap because it would kill the soul. Therefore, Gandhi’s politics is a religion-oriented science. His concept of religion being a broad one, it is neither Hinduism or Islam nor for that matter any specific religion. It is morality, pure and simple, the search for Truth and God.
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