World Religions

I think that the appropriate role for religion to play in terms of government is none. I believe that governments should be like the one here in the States and have a separation of church and state. The intertwining of religion and government, to me, screams PROBLEMS! All though countries will always have a religion that the majority favours I believe it is impossible to force everyone to adhere to restrictions that are formed on such a personal level. Thinking about this however it is hard for me to determine if I believe religion to be so personal simply because of its background, or because that is the way it is portrayed here. In further thought religion is really no more personal than a political affiliation, what is the difference in forcing people to accept laws and forcing them to practice a certain religion? although I do ultimately believe it should be kept separate from the state because of the emphasis most religions place upon personal connections with a higher being. I think it is difficult to insist that a person have such a connection, especially for a person like me who sometimes greatly struggles to understand religion. The combination of state and religion was the reason many groups fled England and other European countries as well as a basis for many revolutions. I have concluded through the writing of this blog that I do indeed believe the separation of church and state to be important, and cease to doubt the fact that there is a difference in conforming to a law and conforming to a religion.