A million people protest religion's influence on government

You may have caught this in the news this weekend. If you didn't, guess which nation had over a million citizens on the streets protesting, what they believed to be, increasing religious influence over the government. It wasn't the United States, the supposed bastion of separation of church and state. It was Turkey. A Muslim country that was founded as a completely secular state. This weekend, over a million Turks hit the streets in Istanbul. They are concerned because the prime contender for the job of president of Turkey is a guy who is an Islamic fundamentalist. The average Turk on the street does not want the country turned over to religious kooks. One 67 year old woman, when interviewed, stated "we don't want covered women in the presidential palace," an apparent reference to the potential president's wife, who covers up as a traditional woman Muslim would. "We want modern, civilized people there," was another comment by the same woman.

I think it's funny that here's a country full of Muslims who are proud of their secular heritage and don't want it interfered with. Where are Americans on this issue???? Right wing religious nuts are influencing over government as never before. And no one raises a voice. Why? Are we that lazy or indifferent that we don't care that one of the founding principles of our Republic is being eroded more and more each year?

Turkey is a nation of 70 million people, which is less than a quarter of our 300 million. If the same percentage of our citizens turned out in protest for anything that would mean more than 4 million people would be in the streets. Imagine what would be accomplished if we showed the same interest in what our government was up to as the Turks.

Once again, I find myself saying "the US is the only country is the civilized world to ___________." I really wonder if we have lost our right to be considered a civilized, progressive society. On so many issues, from capital punishment to drug laws to gay rights and yes, even religious influence on the government, the United States finds itself the odd man out in the world. Other countries are scared shitless of us because religion has such a strong hold on our government. I was reading recently that some people are concerned the fundamentalist crowd in Washington is trying to hasten the second coming of Christ. People like that have no place in power in our country.

Off the top of your head, think of the nations where religion plays a significant role in policy. I can think of Iran, Syria, Egypt, all of those "stans", Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States.

There's an old saying that one is known by the company one keeps. And I hate to say it, but I'm not very proud of the company we keep on many issues.