I admire many aspects of the Christian right. Culture does play an important role in maintaining the moral standards of a society, and on that point I do agree with the Christian right. However, I don't believe that they we should infuse politics with a spiritual agenda. When religious leaders become political, it takes away from the broader moral lessons they are trying to teach us.
Alexis de Tocqueville once said that "religions should be careful to confine themselves to a proper sphere, for if they wish to extend themselves beyond spiritual matters, they run the risk of not being believed at all." The clergy is there to change people individually, not to change nations politically. Church and state: two different things that should stay separated. Those on the religious right and the religious left have their place, and that's out of politics. They have important things to say, but the religious right should not endeavor to be so politically ambitious. They know very little about running a government, and what they do know is generally wrong.
