On Religion and Politics

Hi Humans,
I was sitting on Daddy's lap the other day while he was watching one of those political t.v. shows on CNN or one of those news stations where they talk endlessly about human politics. They were talking about the clash between Islam and the West. Then some people were saying that the clash is actually between religious fundamentalism and secularism in Islam. Actually (if my little doggie opinion matters), I think the real clash is between those who favor separation of church and state and those who want to mix politics or nationalism and religion. Some people use religion to justify bad behavior. Those people pollute religion by using it for some alterior motive. After all what does religion have to do with nationalism or politics? I think it is no coincidence that most or all civilizations have had some kind of religion. Imagine the most primitive person looking at the temporary and unpredictable nature of life. He needed some way of dealing with this problem, and we still do today. The discovery of religion was and is a way to do that. But using it to justify other things does nothing to serve that end. In fact it muddies religion and obscures its real purpose. Secularism and separation of church and state do not deny religion but rather allow it to focus on its real purpose.
It happens that in this time, fanaticism is more prevalent in Islam than in most other religions. It wasn't always so. During the Middle Ages, Islam was among the most enightened civilizations. And it does not have to be so. Fanaticism is contrary to the interests of most Muslims. It would serve them well if they did a better job of denouncing the fanatics among them. That is not to say that Christianity and Judaism are completely free of fanaticism. To a lesser extent we have our own idealogues. Fortunately the American people have now shown their collective wisdom by electing a pragmatic President Obama who is leading us back into a position of strength. In this way sanity will win over insanity, and the world will be a better place for humans (and therefore us dogs as well).
Chloe