Religious views are often a part of a person’s psychological repertoire and can strongly influence his or her behavior. Extreme, unexamined views can be damaging to the individual; milder views can be a source of comfort and guidance. There is great danger in mixing politics and religion though, and more precisely, government and religion. Here is why.

The blending of religion and government in the United States came long after the founding of the country. The motto, In God We Trust did not appear on currency until after the civil war and did not become the national motto until 1956. It began during a time of  particularly religious citizenship and a religiously sympathetic treasury department. It also coincides with a time when the county was predominately Christian.

In recent years, due to changing views and immigration, the percentage of Christians in the United States has decreased, while at the same time a small percentage of Christians have clamored for government to increasingly embrace God and religion, and weave them into our national dialogue. As long as the majority of the nation is Christian, this is tolerated and perhaps even agreed to by many. But once the government is blended with religion, then we are vulnerable to be governed by any religion that evolves into the majority. We now have a Muslim congressman (Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis)) for the first time in our history. How comfortable would Christians in the United States be if over time, legislation was passed acknowledging Allah and including quotes from the Quran on U.S. currency? By strictly maintaining a separation of church and state this will not happen, and that is exactly what the first amendment is supposed to protect against.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by the Congress or the preference of one religion over another, non-religion over religion, or religion over non-religion. By looking at countries where religious dogma constitutes legal doctrine, you can see just how important this is.  Laws established by religious dogma often have no basis in reason or social experience and are subversive to individual freedoms.  For the protection of all, let’s keep religion and government separate.