Politics and Religion

I would like to clear up my position from class:

I agree, to an extent, and find it reasonable that a person of faith, or a person of no faith, would have their political opinions influenced by whatever their level of spirituality is. However, people need to realize that their faith and beliefs are not grounds for law, their customs and religious rules are not grounds for law, and any aspects or beliefs of their faith are not evidence for law. It's understandable that a Christian would be pro-life, but for that person to claim that abortion is wrong because it "sends a soul to hell," is a statement that will not be taken seriously and would only fall on deaf ears for any non-Christian (and many practicing Christians as well).

I also find it rather arrogant that some politicians would claim God or Jesus told them to do something. When there is no evidence to verify any authenticity in religiously motivated decisions then it is as if we are shaping the lives of others blindly instead of looking to facts, science and universal rights. I have no problem with mixing faith and politics as long as people are respectful and not assume that their faith is logical reasoning for policy, they need to find real logical reasons that can be proven and justified. Unfortunately, we are unable to justify biblical events from thousands of years ago, so religious convictions rightfully should not be used to resolve the current issues of today. In an ideal society, sure, religion and politics could be fine together, but in our world religion is, more often than not, used as an exploitative and manipulative tool in the political sphere.