What happens when politics is combined with religion?

Yep.
These days it's pretty hard to determine wether someone truly believes in God and in Jesus dieing for them, or wether they just agree with Jesus' teachings and use religion as a "powerboosting factor".

Don't get me wrong, following Jesus teachings is great, but if you don't truly believe that He was the son of God, then what's going to be your secret agenda in the end?

Was this country not founded on the basis of Christanity? I mean all these people want to get the bible and relious beliefs out of school and i think it's stupid. This country used more than 85% of the bible to write the laws in the constitution of the US. C'mon people church and state will never be fully separeated.

And that's my point; a country that has foundation on religious beliefs can not separate state and religion. you are right lizardking. And that is fine is part of our history but when politicians use religion for political gain that is wrong.

[edit on 27-6-2004 by marg6043]

When policies of an administration are based on any religeous agenda, then you have a problem. Religeon an I mean all religeons can be a source for good, you notice I said can, because when you have fundamentalists setting the agenda for health care, womens rights, adoptions rights, gay rights,etc you have begun to stomp on the rights gauranteed by the founding fathers. remember this country was founded by those who were fleeing religeous persecution, the separartion of church an state was not put in for no reason. Live your life according to your faith, run your government for the good of all, not a select few.

Originally posted by izzi
remember this country was founded by those who were fleeing religeous persecution, the separartion of church an state was not put in for no reason...

And now circle is closing.

Read this also.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Two cpmments on this-

First, I agree with Badkitty and Jakko. It's not mixing the religion in government that is bad, rather mixing the government in religion, if you see my point.

Secondly, I would urge real research by some members on this board into what "seperation of church and state" means. It does not mean no mention of religion in government, nor does it mean it is unlawful for governing officials to use religious teachings as guidelines. It means that the state will not be run by church power, nor the church by state power. To simplify, it means no holy roman empire, and no anglican church. Trying to make it mean that the US must be an atheist state is a blatant twisting of the very basis of the US. If you don't believe in the founding concepts of the US, then I'd say its not the place for you to be. Canada would probably welcome you with open arms, however.

Here's a little homework on the subject:

"The First Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". Contrary to popular belief, the phrase "separation of church and state" appears in no founding American document. The concept of a "wall of separation between church and state" is often interpreted as prohibiting religious expressions in public settings (schools, courtrooms, etc.). The phrase was first used by Roger Williams and popularized by Thomas Jefferson in a 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists (a religious minority concerned about the dominant position of the Episcopal church in Virginia). His intention was to assure this religious minority that their rights would be protected from undue external interference. The two prohibitions of the First Amendment have often been viewed as contradictory, and one common theme in court rulings in the United States is to resolve situations where the establishment clause and the free exercise clause appear to contradict each other."
and
"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries." �James Madison

from this source