I prefer

The French

  The movie below, Jesus Camp, should be watched by every politico who is railing against Secularism in America. I prefer the French version of Secularism. It should be obvious after watching why.

   It it still wierdly very popular in America to rail against the French. I heard it again from someplace you would not expect it from someone you wouldn't expect it. But the republican meme (fueled in part by people who wrongly think the French to be antisemetic) is that the laws the French have to neutralize the public space of religious expression violate our freedom of worship or free exercise of religion.

    The French experienced in WWII an occupation by Germany at a time when their Reicht claimed a National Church as it coopted the religion, theology and coffers of the Lutheran church making one State church Lutheran Synod, and misusing the theology militaristically to suppress to death one religion where Jews were put on trains and sent cross border to concentration camps. No wonder they want to neutralize government of religious expression.

  The misuse of religion for militaristic purposes is not alien to our soil. Look at the movie below, Jesus Camp. Neither is the extreme wingnutty misappropriation of religion for political agendas.

   In the Jesus Camp movie at the end there is an interesting sequence in which Ted Haggart is condemning homosexuality. Interesting sidenote for those who don't recall- this is the disgraced pastor who subsequently confessed to gay affairs, and a long term one with a gay prostitute while married.

    Anyone who thinks that separation of church and state is a bad idea needs to watch this. It's free to watch, the entire thing is posted below. Every Bishop needs to watch it. Really. Mandatory. Especially for Cardinals.