IMO, religion is the single biggest, most successful con job ever perpetrated on humans. It was begun long ago so that the "holy" men could control their local populations. When money came into being, it flourished.

Now days, the big religious con continues to rape the pocketbooks of rich and poor alike. People do find solace and friendships in their congregations and that is a good thing. But that is one of the reasons the big con has continued for so long. If there were no religions, we would find some other means to "congregate" with people of like minds.

Religions have always taken a role in politics throughout the ages. The power of the church had to be appeased in order for the politicians to administrate. This put enormous power in the hands of the clerics to make laws which increased their influence and eliminated their rivals. This is just one of the very important reasons our founders wanted a separation of church and state.

Our constitution was written to protect religious sects from government persecution, but it also protects the citizens of this country from the imposition of religious doctrine by any sect that might be in the majority. I am concerned that too much religious influence is infesting our government.