Indianapolis Business Daily

Is mixing leadership with religion the most dangerous thing a nation can do?

In the light of the events in Israel with the Jewish only state and leadership, Hamas Islamic leadership, Iranian Islamic leadership, and the French royalty who had lead as well as being at the head of the Church in France, and the papal states who had lead with inquisitions across europe. Is therefore mixing religion with leadership a dangerous thing to do?

Public Comments

1. Yes it is....... That is why we have "Separation of Church and State" here in the USA......
2. Anyone who can "rationalize" an action with an impossible to debate statement (like God told me to do it) is very dangerous. This can be any sort of unverifiable statement unrelated to religion also (like either you are with us or against us).
3. only when you have extremist who are unwilling to compromise and be accepting and tolerant of other peoples beliefs
4. Yes it is. Bush said he was guided by god, and look at the mess he caused. The US, despite denying, makes sure the president is always a devout christian. There is no separation of church and state in the US. Leaders should be able to make rational decisions, without being affected, as they are, by whatever religious doctrines they subscribe to.
5. Yes, a very dangerous thing I think. Having a religious leader who can make the political decisions leads to a type of anarchy - witness Iran where the ayatollah and the religious council can bar certain people from running for political positions. Suppose Iran has nuclear weapons: it would not be a good situation to have the ayatollah wake up one day and direct they be used on Israel with his reasoning being "God Told Me To". Not a good situation.
6. Yes, it is. Religion causes more wars than anythingelse and religious leaders can often be fanatics. In my humble opinion, mixing the two is a recipe for disaster.
7. Separation of Church and state does not officially happen in the UK - the monarch is the head of Parliament and the Anglican church, and Anglican bishops get to sit in the House of Lords (the upper house of Parliament) That said, the UK is in effect a secular state. If any politician mentioned God too much, he should expect a spectacular electoral defeat.