On mixing religion and politics

Published 10:27 am Thursday, April 18, 2024

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Dear Editor:

Recent letters to the editor discuss the merits of religion being involved in politics.

I would strongly urge them to always keep in mind Thomas Paine’s parting comment in a letter to the Quakers in the late 1700’s: “And here, without anger or resentment, I bid you farewell.  Sincerely wishing, that as men and Christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right, and be, in your turn, the means of securing it to others; but that the example which ye have unwisely set, of mingling religion with politics, may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of America.”

History has shown this to be valuable advice. Even today, many people live under the tyranny of religious governments!

Colin Case
Bath, NC