While the Constitution protects freedom of religion, it would be foolish to ignore religion in world power and its influence in US politics. Religious entitlements in government have crept up in US politics, as they always have in world politics, because of their ability to lead critical masses of people.

 

A glaring example is the GOP’s use of the Christian Coalition as a blatant steerage tool, declaring George Bush as “a Christian President”. It was a grossly presumptive calculation which mislead the political service of the Christian church and America. Too many Americans may have looked the other way, believing maybe their God would prevail and rule the elite. When to the contrary, the greedy and and those willing to deceive the well intended spiritual ideals of a theocracy are routinely used to perform the most depraved and unjust acts in wars without the reprehension of a natural conscience.

 

The people’s persistent invocation of the division of church and state is the best answer to the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for all. Religious institutions should responsibly guard their right to practice and draw defining lines for followers between spiritual powers and the offices of US government as provision for the individual. They are not qualified or equipped to run the US government based exclusively on spiritual constituencies.

 

The powerful in government who deliberately indulge in the deception and seduction of spiritual leaders should be identified and publicly humiliated for their disservice to the American people. Religious institutions who fall prey to the former need to be held accountable by their communities.