Have You Ever ....

... seen the bumper sticker that says something like -

THE LAST TIME THEY TRIED TO MIX

RELIGION AND POLITICS

THEY BURNED PEOPLE AT THE STAKE.

?

I have been thinking about that for many months since I first saw/read it.
First of all, it is usually worn by some liberal psudo-intellectual moralist.
Second of all, the statement is not exactly true.

The last time "they" tried to mix Christianity and politics, "they" produced the United States of America.
It think the product turned out pretty good.

There have been some less successful combinations of politics and Christianity - specifically the Roman Catholic variety.
Think of the Middle/Dark Ages and numerous trials/tortures of "heretics".
Then there was the crusades.
Treatment of native people by the conquistadors in the 1600 - 1700's.
History is full of wars fought over religion, both Christian and others.

The key element in the equation is which religion is in the soup.
If you mix the Muslim religion with politics you get Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Or Saudi Arabia.
Or Iran
Or Syria
Or Iraq under Saddam (though he was not a strictly religious man as much as he was a power monger - not unlike the current American dictator.)

If you mix atheism with politics you get the Soviet Union under Stalin.
Or Cuba under the Castros.
Or Cambodia under Pol Pot.
Or Sudan.
Or China.

We could do much worse than to mix Christianity with politics.
We are about to learn just how precious that experiment is/was as we enter an era of state-enforced atheism.
Enjoy your freedoms and property and income while you can.
You will not have them long.

In God we trust.
.