Subject: More meat for the grinder!
 

 Let the religious wackos chew on this for a while.

 In their unequaled wisdom the framers of our constitution described a clear
 line in the separation of church and state. Basically what that means is that
 the two are not to become one. Or as the “Christian Coalition” and a host of
 others would adamantly tell you, the state can’t get involved in the affairs of
 the church.

 Now if the state by law has to stay out of the affairs of the church then as
 my grandpa used to tell me (and I believe this wisdom very accurately reflects
 the mindset of the original constitutional convention) “what’s good for the
 goose is good for the gander”. In other words if the state by law can’t
 interfere with the operations of the “church” then why is it legal for the
 church to interfere with the operations of the state?

 Now, I’ve said for years that if the church was doing such a great job teaching
 its members the difference between right and wrong then they wouldn’t have
 the need to tell  people how to vote and how to think.

 Unfortunately we’re dealing with a mindset in the religious industry
 (and if you lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma you would know that religion in America is
 definitely an industry. At Higher Dimensions you even have to submit a financial
statement to get to enter the sunday service.) of we want our cake and eat it too.

 Common sense would dictate that if the “state” is not to interfere with the
 “church” then the “church” shouldn’t be interfering with the “state”. In other words
 a political party based on religious beliefs can be nothing but illegal under our constitution.
 To take that one step farther, an alliance between an established political party and a
 religious organization would have to also be unconstitutional.
 This being the case would mean that not only was the republican convention
 illegal because of the people they’ve chosen to align themselves with but that
 would mean that the candidacy of any individual nominated from that convention
 would be illegal. (Another good saying, “two wrongs don’t make a right”.)

 Now you can say this is a crazy idea but let’s take a look at a really good
 example of what I’m talking about. How many people are willing to move to Iran?
 They’ve allowed their church to influence the state to the point that religious leaders
 are now the political leaders in their country. Gee, aren’t they doing a wonderful job?

 Call it extreme if you must BUT this is exactly where we are headed if religion
 is allowed to continue on its present course in the United States of America.
 Based on the fact that I haven’t visited a church yet that isn’t full of hypocrites
 I would have to say that this is a totally unacceptable situation.
 Not only in Iran but in the US as well. Now, if you think that it’s
 OK for religious leaders to occupy political positions then you should
 immediately call all your elected officials and tell them that we must
 immediately normalize relations with almost every terrorist organization
 and religious wacko government in the world.
 
 Acceptable?
 I don’t think so.
 
 Cliff Downing