That whole establishment clause

Dude, A.Lo just gave the best response EVER on this blog. Like, that post was so awesome, it makes all the other responses look like no responses at all. Rock on, A.Lo!

Among her salient points:

I talked with liberal Bart Campolo last night, and he's speaking at a rally this week to encourage young Christians to see politics as a way to help the poor.

Yes. I agree with the younger Campolo's assertion that Christians should see the political process as a way to help the poor. But recently, I've realized that there may be a fine line between encouraging Christians to enter the political process and encouraging them to insist on a religious government. I've been involved in a little pissing match with Robert, who insists that church-state separation is a silly idea. (Robert and I are on a first-name basis, 'cause I don't give out my last name, and sometimes I don't even give out my first name.)

"Kiss the son, lest he be angry!" says Robert. And whatever else that might mean, it obviously means that the United States should declare an official religion. And Robert isn't the only one who thinks this is a good idea. There's a whole group of folks who are down with establishing a state religion. Oh, it's Christianity, of course.

But what about religious freedom?

Oh, a state religion won't affect the freedom of religion, Robert asserts. Just look at Egypt, he says! And Iraq! Their restrictions on the freedom of religion aren't so bad.

Of course, when I object to this characterization,he tells me he was really talking about England and Finland, who have state religions but don't place unacceptable restrictions on the freedom of religion.

England and Finland don't float either, though. Because what Robert wants is a state where the state religion is Christianity, and where that state religion directly and substantially affects public policy. Does this really happen in England? Not really. As far as I know, there are no such nations. And there's a reason for that. Whenever you combine religion and armed force, the result always seems to be religious persecution.

So let's be involved in the political process, but let's respect that First Amendment, too. 'Cause who wants the Southern Baptists in charge?