I just finished reading a NYT article that pretty much summed up my beliefs about mixing religion (Christianity in particular) with politics. Its called
Christ Among the Partisians and i really suggest you read the whole thing. The basic premisis is this:
THERE is no such thing as a "Christian politics." If it is a politics, it cannot be Christian. Jesus told Pilate: "My reign is not of this present order. If my reign were of this present order, my supporters would
have fought against my being turned over to the Jews."... (John 18:36). Jesus brought no political message or program.
This is a truth that needs emphasis at a time when some Democrats, fearing that the Republicans have advanced over them by the use of religion... He avoided those who would trap him into taking sides for or against the Roman occupation of Judea. He paid his taxes to the occupying power but said only, "Let Caesar have what belongs to him, and God have what belongs to him" (Matthew 22:21). He was the original proponent of a separation of church and state. (bolding is mine, more below the fold)
The article goes on to show how pretencious the so called Religious Right is.
Those who want the state to engage in public worship, or even to have prayer in schools, are defying his injunction: "When you pray, be not like the pretenders, who prefer to pray in the synagogues and in the public square, in the sight of others. In truth I tell you, that is all the profit they will have. But you, when you pray, go into your inner chamber and, locking the door, pray there in hiding to your Father, and your Father who sees you in hiding will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6). He shocked people by his repeated violation of the external holiness code of his time, emphasizing that his religion was an internal matter of the heart.
This paragraph is a blatant example of how off track the so called Religious Right is with the gospel.
The article concludes with the following:
The institutional Jesus of the Republicans has no similarity to the Gospel figure. Neither will any
institutional Jesus of the Democrats.
Well said.