Pundits have bemoaned the increased divisions in our nation's political discourse during recent years, though usually neglecting to mention that the GOP and the Bush regime have been the driving factors behind it. Yet, there is another way that the Bush regime has damaged the nature of American political debate: the increasing religiosity.

Religion should be a private matter. Religious considerations have no legitimate role to play in politics, and injecting religion into politics discriminates against atheists. Until recently, such behavior had been abandoned by the left, staying primarily in the fundamentalist right and with obnoxious Dixiecrats like Bill Clinton.

Yet, with the ascension of George W. Bush, religiosity has started to permeate political debate throughout the political spectrum. Although I admire Cindy Sheehan very much, I was dismayed to find out that she was dragging a cross around at Camp Casey II.

The Bush regime has done everything it can to use the power of the state to promote religion. In its “faith-based initiatives,” which would be more accurately referred to as hate-based initiatives, Bush and his band of religious extremists have transferred federal grants to charities that discriminate on the basis of religion. Bush has been on political jihads against the right to choose on abortion and against the civil rights of the queer community. Bush looks for every excuse to unconstitutionally declare Days of Prayer.

Even more damaging has been Bush's efforts to inject his non-existent deity into political debate. His brutal and murderous war in Iraq has been justified in Christian religious terms. This has created a backlash among liberal Christians, who think that the war is “unChristian.” This latter claim is bizarre given the murderous history of Christianity.

Too much of the debate on Iraq is couched in a Christians vs. Muslims context or in a “who would Jesus bomb?” context. Life-and-death national issues are being lowered to the level of a “my god can beat up your god” type of debate.

Air America even has a show devoted to injecting religion into politics and thereby advocating discrimination against atheists, State of Belief.

People of all political persuasions need to recognize the lunacy of believing that a supernatural being is taking their side in political debates. We need only to look at Afghanistan under the Taliban to see the risks involved in mixing religion and politics.