The founding fathers of this nation had a good idea when they conceived that America should be a land of religious freedom. They didn’t want the state answering to a church, and they didn’t want the church to have to answer to the state. Unfortunately, they only got the job half done. The government doesn’t interfere in the affairs of religion; the churches would go ballistic if they did. But nobody seems to have a problem with it the other way around. Religion exerts great influence on the government. Case in point is defining marriage. The First Amendment explicitly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” But the institution in question, as conservatives seek to define it, is an establishment of religion. What’s up with that?
Many religious leaders have spoken from the pulpit for or against this or that candidate or cause. They politicize when they should be preaching. The line needs to be drawn. We have seen in the Middle East what happens when religious interests are given too much power in government. Is that what we want for America?
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