I favor the separation of Church and War

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Cartoons are published that certain Muslims find offensive. A conflagration erupts. And we're asked to choose up sides -- "Is Islam a peaceful religion or not?"

Sorry, but I can't accept that frame.

But I do have an opinion on this. Here it is:

Let me begin by saying I believe in God. Simply put, I'm what most of you would call a religious (or spiritual) person. It's how I was raised; it's how I've tried to live my life; it's what I've tried to teach my own children.

But there have been enough wars fought in God's name. Enough. Who needs another one? By making this about "Islam," we're also implicitly making this about "Christianity." And, God knows, "Judaism" has been dragged into this too.

You might disagree, but that's what I think.

Now, let me make myself clear: I'm quite familiar with the notion of totalitarianism. I understand that it is the antithesis of freedom and liberty. And to the extent that I, as an American, value the constitutional notion of inalienable rights, I am against any totalitarian entity that seeks to quash my (or anyone else's) human rights.

But the religions I'm familiar with (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) are also, in their own way, the antithesis of freedom and liberty. The Bible, the Torah, the Koran -- they teach that we should follow God's commandments. They teach that we should bend to God's will. Not that it's a bad thing; just the opposite, in fact.

But if we, as Americans, are truly comitted to government of the people, for the people and by the people we must put our Constitution at the highest level in our system of temporal laws.

As Justice O'Connor so famously put it:

At a time when we see around the world the violent consequences of the assumption of religious authority by government, Americans may count themselves fortunate: Our regard for constitutional boundaries has protected us from similar travails, while allowing private religious exercise to flourish. … Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly.

In short, I wish we'd stop arguing about whether this is, or isn't about Islam or Christianity or Judaism. More to the point, I wish our highest government officials were smart enough not to fall into that trap.

I prefer to keep church and state separate. I prefer to keep church and military separate. And I most certainly prefer to keep church and war separate.

And if I'm the only one who believes that, then that's perfectly fine with me.