Do you feel you can seperate your religious beliefs from your politics?
105772
Your question is unclear.\n\nIf you mean how I vote and conduct my personal business, no, I cannot and will not separate my beliefs.  I'm not supposed to, anymore than you could stop being a man or woman for the sake of politics.\n\nIf you mean can I support and respect the needs of people who do not share my beliefs while in political office, yes, of course, and it is done every day by politicians.
345915
No, but I think religion should be a personal practice and have NOTHING to do with the government at all. Until that happens, yes it should be repressed from all governmental function.
575418
I will always take my religious/personal beliefs over the law.\n\nI am not very religious, but I do have strong religious beliefs. I am also a law enforcement officer.\n\nI guess I'm a contradiction!
1012826
I really do not believe you can separate the church and the state. People are part of the state and they are also members of their respective churches. \n\nJust go to a church whose beliefs and teachings you are most comfortable with.
935604
I see your point and have wondered that myself.  \n\nI know my 12 step group is more "religious" than my church as far as repeated traditions and regular meetings.  There is a set of beliefs, a text that all use, traditions, etc.\n\nHow about politics.....wouldn't democrats or republicans fit into this as well??\n\nGreat question, my answer is I dont really know when that point is crossed, but I appreciate your logic.\n\nDavid
524620
the only thhing we can do is be a good influence ourselves, and we can have an effect on politics, by voting, running, politicing, etc. but i agree as far as faith / beliefs go, it is such an individual journey no one can tell you your truth...
1022891
Interesting question. The problem you have and has been noted by the other answers is that even with a strict separation the only thing accomplished is that the church itself does not directly control the government. The reality is that if I as a religious person of The Church (meant to be vague) were to be elected to a government position of influence I can, and likely will, influence government in ways that reflect my religion.\n\nNothing can be done to stop that. And nothing can be done to stop The Church from organizing candidates to run for office with a common goal/theme.\n\nSo to answer the original question - I feel there should be a strict seperation so that freedom of religious choice is not compromised, though I recognize that religion will always influence politics
765961
Being a Christian relates to your personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  It has nothing to do with your political affiliation.
445739
No. Absolutely not. The fact that I have a strong faith is a personal decision. What anyone else chooses to believe in is entirely up to them, and I do respect that. I wouldn't be living the way my faith requires if I were to push it onto someone else. I respect their beliefs the same way that I would want someone to respect mine. (Lutheran)
286046
I do consider their religion when I vote only in the sense that they allow their religious institution to influence them. Otherwise, what their actual religion may be is not really the reason I vote for them. I listen to their views on different issues and their ideas for resolutions to problems on the various issues. If they say that their religion is "blank" and then say that their religion helps to guide them in the decision making process, that does not necessarily make me go "Oh no can't vote for you". Instead what I look at is how close their ties are to their religious institutions and whether they say things like "Well my religion tells me......and therefore this is how I will vote on that issue". In fact, the more they bring up "what my religion tells me" the more likely I am not going to vote for them. Reason...I've found that politicians that use the phrase "My religion tells me" are often the same politicians that are very closely tied to their religious institution and therefore what their religious institution is advocating, well it is them, not us the electorate, that they represent and listen to. If they say "Well I believe..............and I got this from what my religion teaches about............and the lessons I learned from that teaching helped me with some aspects of my plan" well the key words are "some" and "believe" and "teaches" and "lessons". The politicians like this usually hold strong beliefs, but if you look over their plans you'll see that they are not framing their religion into law, but instead have considered that others might have a different perspective. These politicians, while religious, often also do not always agree with their religious institution and will often outright say so on the areas where they disagree.
600683
No. Government without religion is a cold, heartless government. We need religion to help with compassion and understanding, as well as infusing some much-needed morals into our officials. The US was founded on Christian principles, and nowhere in our founding documents does it say that religion is not allowed in government, only that the government cannot establish (ie: force on you) a religion. \n\nTo all those who will start blathering about "separation of church and state" please note that this phrase is NO WHERE in our documents. It is found in private letters written by Thomas Jefferson a decade after this country was founded.
1075309
That happened to me.  I guess at first I felt totally betrayed, mad, I didn't know what to do or what to think.  Then I started trying to educate myself to "make sure" that I was correct that my belief system was based on lies.  The whole process has taken several years, but then I started researching many other beliefs and religions and found out that most of them were also.  So I am no longer a part of organized religion and I have discovered my own beliefs.  I'm still on my spiritual quest but my current beliefs probably lean toward New Thought.
1041717
Religion and Politics.
777437
I certainly can, in our civil society religion shouldn't matter.  In fact however, it does and I prefer to know not so much the religion but how devout the politician is--the more devout, the less I like them because the more likely they are to let their religion color their decisions.  I don't want anybody forcing their religion or the implicit results of their religion on me.
141330
The simple answer is "No."\n\nNow the complex answer.\nToo many people confuse true Christianity with a religion.  Religion has rules, "we vs. them" types of mentalities, and tends to try and conquer other people who think or believe differently.  Not all religions are "religious" according to this type of definition.  According to this we could easily cast the homosexuality movement as a religion, athiesm as a religion, even Democrats and Republicans as a religion.\n\nTrue Christianity is a relationship.  A relationship between you and God.  The Bible exists to help you understand how God want the relationship to work, what you are responsible for, and what He is responsible for.  As with any good relationship there are great benefits with Christianity.  Also, there are certain things you can do that will cause strife and pain to the relationship.  The last component to this relationship is God wants to help you - just like you want to help your best friends.  He tells you of things to avoid to help you live a better life and make good decisions.  God is NOT a bully, is NOT a genie to do your bidding (although too many Christians treat him this way), and will not control your life.  It's all based on FREE WILL.
470954
True, it doesn't say verbatim "seperation between church and state", however that somes up the 1st amendment nicely.\n\nHow would you teach a specific religion in a public school and not consider that to be a favoring a specific religion above all others?
620512
It is possible to not have religion run politics.  It is impossible to have politics without religion.\n\nEvery person who goes into office has their beliefs and that will control them to a great degree which is OK so long as their beliefs are known by those who elect them.\n\nThe challenge for those people then should be to acknowledge that other's religion or lack there of carries the same weight, so that nothing should ever be done to infringe upon anyone's beliefs.\n\nThat was the reason the founding fathers didn't want the government to establish or interfere with any religions.  All are equal in the eyes of the constitution.\n\nRecently, on both sides, religion has become a crusade and a supposed cure for all ails of the country.  Rather than religion playing a bigger part in the government and it's laws, perhaps the individuals should let it play a larger role in their own lives and practice what they preach.\n\n(and corvette's statement is like saying my computer is a tiger deterrent since it is here and there are no tigers nearby - more religious influence in politics will only cause MORE problems, not less. Start putting blame for the wrong of society where they belong, in parent(s) not teaching their children.)