Left or right, just keep religion out

Published 12:45 pm Sunday, April 22, 2012

I find David Sirota’s Saturday’s column “Contradiction where religion, politics meet” disputable. The Bible makes no affirmation about socio-economic justice. Rather, it provokes the individual to be charitable on his own initiative and out of his own resources, not others; and certainly it is not to be used as a ploy by socialistic practitioners within government. Jesus never challenged government to become a tool for social reform.

Maybe some who are religious might be influenced by the progressive ideology of today, but the truth found in scripture does not substantiate those beliefs. Certainly many current social issues fly in the face of biblical precepts.

The only statement made by Jesus concerning man’s interaction with government is profound and can be found in Matthew 22:21, “… Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Religion should be kept out of politics. People should be free to be guided by their own conscience. And government is the last entity that should ever wield the Bible.

Daniel Palmer

Lynnwood