Reasons to Never Mix Politics with Religion
Religion affects everything from gay marriage to education. Yet Estonia (above image – a beautiful country near Finland and Sweden) has over 70% of people who identify as non-religious. One of the most forested areas on earth, most people believe ‘nature’ is their God. It’s also one of the most peaceful countries. What’s almost hilarious is that religious people visit to try to ‘convert the masses’. But often from countries at war – due to religion!
Sandra Vungi is Estonia’s version of Delia Smith. The difference is that she’s a young vegan chef who has written many best-selling cookbooks. She and her boyfriend live in a hut in the forest that they built themselves. And in her spare time, she plays in a heavy metal band!
England was originally a Roman Catholic country, then when Henry VIII replaced the Pope with himself as the head of the church, the Reformation happened. It was a long and complicated battle, but ended up with the formation of the Church of England, of which King Charles III is now head, since the Queen has died.
Roman Catholics still answer to Pope Leo, and Quakers broke away from the Church of England, to have their own peaceful faith. Then you have Orthodox followers (who predate the Catholic religion – pretty similar, but they don’t answer to the Pope). Then of course we have many other smaller religions from different regions around the world.
So although some still believe that England is a ‘Christian nation’, you can see that even within that faith, there are many differences. Quakers are kind of Christian, but they refuse to go to war, and don’t even like to pay taxes to fund war. And Catholics don’t agree with abortion, but many Christians of other denominations do.
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains tend not to eat meat, and Muslims and Jews (though their faiths allow them to be vegan or vegetarian) often do, and this causes controversy among others due to slaughtering animals without stunning.
Then we have people who say they are Christian, but are not following the teachings of Christ at all. Politicians who take away help for the most vulnerable in society, or those who sell arms and bomb countries.
You can see the problem. When you link politics and religion, then often it means people who are not religious pretend they are (look at how atheist Sir Keir Starmer recently pretended to be Christian when talking to Trump). Then you have people like Trump who think they are sent by God to help us, but most of us are thinking more ‘God help us!’
This is Not a Case Against Faith
Overall, faith is usually a good thing. It gives meaning to many people’s lives, and helps them get through the hard times. In his book Healthy at 100, John Robbins (who studied the four longest-lived cultures on earth) discovered that one thing they all had in common was faith. None of the four communities had any idea what an atheist was!
Although still not a believer, the world’s most famous atheist Richard Dawkins, has recently says he identifies as a ‘cultural Christian’, that is he likes singing hymns and listening to Christmas carols, as it makes him feel warm and cosy. Even that shows that there are good bits to religion for those against it in other forms.
But we must be careful not to force our political or religious beliefs on others, because this is what causes conflict. And that’s what you don’t want to do, if you are in political power, as it causes wars.
Almost any sect, cult or religion will legislate its creed into law, if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A Heinlein
Austria Lets People Choose Beliefs
At the age of 14, Austrian children are given the right to choose their faith or religion. So if they decide not to believe what they have been taught, they are free to refuse classes. The same law applies in Germany.
John Fugelsang (promoting peaceful religious faith)
We love, love, love John Fugelsang! A comedian and actor by profession (he once starred in CSI), lately he is turning his attention on separating the church from the state, mostly due to concern over the ‘far-right Christian nationalists’ creating a Trump-led world, that is anything but Christian.
As you know, nice Christians don’t get the airtime. You don’t see the Christians on cable news, talking about how war is bad. You see the other kind – because villains make for better TV. John Fugelsand
In December 2025, the President actually called American-born Somalis ‘garbage’, championed by his ‘devout Catholic’ vice-president JD Vance.
Jesus was a peacefully, radically non-violent revolutionary who wasn’t American, never spoke English, who hung around lepers, hookers and crooks. He never sought tax cuts for rich Nazarenes, was anti-wealth, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer.
He never called poor people lazy, was never even slightly anti-gay. He was a long-haired, community-organising, authority-questioning, brown-skinned, Palestinian, unarmed homeless Jew. But only if you believe what’s actually in the Bible. John Fugelsang
In an interview with Current Affairs magazine, it’s evident that he would be the man to pit up against any ‘Christian MP’s who are treading on the hopes and dreams of those on life’s bottom rung of the ladder.
He says that rather than make ‘disabled and poor people pay’, Jesus Christ (the real one, not the made-up one in right-wing politics) is good for people, planet and even the economy.
If your church is not telling you to love your enemies (but telling you who your enemies are), you’re not really in a church.
He says the reason our churches in the western world hardly have any parishioners, is not because people don’t love God. It’s because they are fed up of the hypocrisy:
- The Vatican hires out buildings for $30,000 a month to McDonalds, and even the new Pope won’t denounce bullfights (some bulls drown in their own blood) due to donations from Catholic countries like Mexico.
- The Church of England owns over a billion pounds worth of property, yet people are homeless on our streets, while the Head of the Church is a billionaire, who does not pay corporation tax on the private Duchy estate.
- We have ‘Catholic’ former Conservative ministers, Catholic leaders actually wrote to them, to ask them not to remove benefits from poor families with disabled children, some MPs even suggested that people who use food banks (many who work) don’t know how to budget properly.
- The two-child benefit cap has been restored, leading some ‘Christian MPs’ to suggest this is promoting a welfare estate. In fact, 70% of all children in poverty have working parents.
Interestingly, John’s own parents were a nun and Franciscan brother (they fell madly in love and were pen pals for 10 years before marrying). So he likely knows his religion and Bible, better than the bigoted people who preach it.
You can’t hate these people back. You’ll get a lot farther by convincing your racist uncle that Jesus wasn’t an immigrant-hating homophobe than if you just call your uncle an immigrant-hating homophobe.
A Short True Story of Gandhi
Once, Gandhi was asked by a Christian who was giving out leaflets in India, why he was not having any success, terrifying Hindus into changing faith.
Gandhi (who had considered becoming a Christian himself until he endure racial abuse and decided to ‘keep the good bits of Jesus’ and leave the rest of the faith), famously replied:
When you start behaving like a real Christian, maybe someone will start listening to you!
Listen to this fascinating (wise and funny) podcast with John Fugelsang.
A Book on Evangelicals, Politics & Firearms
In Guns We Trust focuses on the USA, but is a book relevant to England too, in a world increasingly scared by gun violence. When you have over 100 million people in one country owning guns, you get tragedies like the Sandy Hook shooting, when a gunman shot dead 26 people (20 children, 6 staff) at a primary school in New England (he had also shot his mother dead, before shooting himself).
One young teacher (Victoria Leigh Soto – the daughter of immigrants) was just 27, who died by placing her body in front of the children, to try to save them. Just like teacher Gwen Mayor in Dunblane – her daughter won’t let her children play violent video games, instead she teaches them about hedgehogs – her mother’s favourite animal).
The American killer’s gun had been legally bought by his mother. And all UK mass shootings have been carried out by licensed gun owners. They passed all checks needed to carry guns, before their crimes.
One good thing to come out of this was Sandy Hook Promise, a website that has free resources for councils , schools and police forces to prevent gun violence worldwide.
Millions of Americans also hunt animals. President Trump sons are big game hunters and in 2011 killed a buffalo, leopard and elephant (they were seen smiling, the infamous photos including one holding the cut-off tail of the dead elephant). Trump does not hunt, but when in power relaxed laws on trophy hunting imports.
What’s This Book All About?
It’s an unsettling investigation into the ‘unholy trinity of so-called ‘white evangelicals’ who fuse the Gospel of the Bible with guns (something that Jesus Christ would never use) in order to ‘bear arms, and create politics that stands in the way of preventing school shootings and more.
The author has personal experience of the Sandy Hook shootings, as he was the New England bureau chief on the day it happened. He asks why it is that ‘white evangelicals’ are more likely than other Americans to own weapons, and how did his own Christian faith (rooted in Jesus’ call to ‘turn the other cheek’), get hijacked?
But he also introduces us to Christians across the world who would never own a gun (think of the Amish village whose residents forgave a killer of schoolchildren (which led his parents to campaign against gun violence) and even helped pay for (and attend) the funeral of the gunman, to help his young widow and family.
Most of us could never imagine being that forgiving – but they were following in the real teachings of Christ. He even meets activists who are ‘beating guns into garden tools’, and nuns who bought company stock, so they could force a gun manufacturer to do more, to prevent gun violence.
William J Kole is an award-winning veteran journalist who has reported worldwide, and also served as bureau chief in Vienna and New England. A former lay missionary for the Assemblies of God and worship leader at churches in Europe and New England, he also served as board president of an international Christian relief agency. He lives in Rhode Island, USA.
