A new law on marriage here, a policy on education there, and before long leaders are quoting Scripture on the campaign trail. It can sound stirring. It can also split a country in two. When politics and religion blend, conflict often grows, not unity.
Estonia (above) is a beautiful country near Finland and Sweden, where over 70% of people 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.
Yet despite focusing more on nature than technology, Estonia also has one of the world’s best broadband services, with nearly everyone paying taxes, registering a business or getting medical prescriptions online.
Whereas people in England are up in arms about prospective ID cards, in Estonia they don’t mind, because they trust their government! Their systems also run smoothly, so they are less likely to make a cock-up of things like being given all your personal banking details!
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!
This is not a case against faith. It is a call for clear lines. Mixing state power with sacred belief brings old tensions back to life. It fuels division, silences dissent, and harms good decision-making. It’s fine to put in place laws against harm done in the name of faith. But a fair society is also one where the rules apply to all.
Many people are understandably upset about Halal and Kosher meat (not stunned, in the name of religion). The good news is that it’s perfectly possible for both Muslim and Jewish religions to be vegan, it’s kind and find within both faiths. The Middle Eastern Vegan Society even has its own v-label for plant foods!
the Perils of Political Religion
Religious wars in medieval Europe began with promises of glory and salvation. When a state claims divine truth, it narrows the space for science, art, and debate. That kind of control slows a society. It is like locking the library and then asking why fewer people are learning.
These warnings still matter. Today, leaders who fuse policy with doctrine risk the same outcomes. They harden borders between neighbours. They shut out expertise. They normalise fear of the other.
Today we have an American President who almost thinks he is God. And a monarch whose vast wealth and power is nothing to compare to Jesus, even though he is head of the Church of England (which itself has over £1 billion in assets, in a country with over 250,000 homeless people).
Terrorists are responsible for the damage they inflict. And cannot blame politics or other religions for their actions. But when you create religious/political conflict, you end up with situations like Gaza. Our government recognises Palestine as an independent state – then sells arms to Israel, to bomb children’s hospitals, or those trying to get aid through to starving people and animals.
This leads to political and religious conflict, which in the end leads to awful situations which take us back hundreds of years to awful beliefs like anti-Semitism.
In Ireland, children of both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds, have grown into bitter adults, after watching fathers shot dead on the doorstep. The scars then last for generations.
Real Christians Help (they don’t hinder)
A few years back, leading Catholics in England wrote an open letter to Iain Duncan-Smith (a Catholic Conservative MP who was in charge of reforming benefits, which appeared to be hurting the vulnerable – former MP Jacob Rees-Mogg is also a devoted Catholic). Here is an excerpt:
We urge you to abandon further cuts which are likely to cause more damage. To become seriously ill or disabled is bad enough. To then have to wait months for help whilst unpaid bills mount up, perhaps fearing eviction or needing to use a foodbank, is distressing and damaging.
We know you place great faith in Universal Credit to restore fairness to the system, but would ask you to reconsider halving of the disabled child’s allowance. Families with disabled children, are already more likely to be living in poverty.
We have constructive proposals on how to make our welfare system work better, and in a way that is more compatible with Catholic and Christian values. We remain your sisters and brothers in Christ.
Tying Faith to Politics Deepens Divides
Modern life is diverse. Homes, schools, and workplaces bring many beliefs together. When politics uses religion as a badge, it sorts neighbours into camps. This is how social trust frays.
The happiest countries on earth all tend to be ones that don’t link faith to politics (say Scandinavian countries like Finland and Sweden). We are now seeing in England the perils of linking faith to politics, as is happening in the USA, where many right-wing pundits are causing deep divisions, and almost ‘hijacking the beliefs of Jesus Christ’ (who was a peaceful simple-living man) into some gun-toting capitalist.
Discrimination grows when the state seems to favour one creed. Atheists, minority faiths, LGBTQ+ people, and migrants can feel pushed aside. Hate crimes can spike, when leaders frame policies in religious terms. When public language turns sharp, some people feel licensed to act on bias.
Almost any sect, cult or religion will legislate its creed into law, if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A Heinlein
Threats to Fair Governance
Good government needs open debate, checks and balances, and policies based on facts. When religious authority steps into state decisions, power feels sacred and even climate takes a back seat.
Some leaders claim a divine mandate. That makes them hard to challenge, even when they fail. If critics can be painted as enemies of God, they are easier to silence. This weakens democracy.
Once leaders claim they answer to God, they often stop answering to voters. This does not make any country kinder or safer. A better path is plain. Hold leaders to laws, not creeds. Keep climate science at the table. That mix gives room for difference and space for progress.
A Book on Separating Church and State
Separation of Church and Hate is a book by the son of a former Catholic nun and Franciscan brother, a Biblically correct takedown of far-right Christian hatred – a book for believers, atheists, agnostics or anyone who ever has had to deal with a Christian nationalist.
For over 200 years, the US constitution has given people the right to a society where church and state exist independently, but now this is being hijacked by far-right groups and politicians who seek to impose their narrow views on government, to justify oppressive and unequal politics.
These extremists who weaponize the Bible for earthly power, are not on the side of Jesus. This informative book by comedian John Fugelsang takes you through the issues. To be fair, abortion is a personal ethics issue and one that should be respected, but other issues like immigration and homophobia are far less clear-cut.
Whatever your faith or views, this book is about fighting for the love, mercy and service that is supposed to make up Christianity.
This book is a rallying cry for compassion and clarity, for anyone or any faith, who’s sick of religion being used, as a cloaking device for hate.
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, and how homophobia is bad. You see the other kind – because villains make for better TV, than nice people. John Fugelsand
The President just used a Bible and one of the churches of my diocese, as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, and everything that our church stands for. Mariann Budde (Episcopalian bishop, angered during a campaign against peaceful protestors in 2020).
