Politics and religion should not be kept separate not because of what politics can do for religion but because of what religion can do for politics. The need for religious based political arguments comes from the structural defects of modern politics—defects that can be ameliorated by drawing on religious sentiments. A basic problem with otherwise well functioning democratic politics is that special interests, such as trade unions and trade associations, are motivated to get benefits for themselves from the state while the great mass of citizens, like taxpayers and consumers, are not so motivated. As a result, we see too little lobbying to prevent the exactions of special interests or at times too little pressure for the state to produce public goods, like the defense of basic human rights, that will redound to the benefit of all.
The reason that special interests are full of passionate intensity and the rest of us lack tenacity in politics is simple: ignorance is sensible, indeed wholly rational, when it comes to politics. The chance of one's making a difference in a local election by voting, let alone in a national election, approximate one's chances of getting hit by lightning on the way to the polls. Of course, some people follow politics closely, such as others follow sports or movie stars. But political junkies are relatively few. It has been well observed politics has aspects of show business for ugly people, and most people unsurprisingly prefer entertainment by the beautiful.
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