Never before in my lifetime has there been such a blatant intrusion of religious activism in American politics. You expect that kind of thing in some exotic Mideast society, and it remains a quaint legacy in European politics where some political parties still include the word “Christian” in their names. But in America?

What happened to the constitutional separation of church and state?

Now, we’re hearing that’s an erroneous concept. According to “conservatives” like Rick Santorum, the Founding Fathers intended America to have a “Christian” government.

I am not a theologian but from what I know of the Bible, I consider “Christian government” an oxymoron.

My recollection is that Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world, and when he was asked whether citizens should pay taxes, He responded: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

If that’s not an injunction to keep religion separate from politics, I don’t know what is.

I am not a constitutional scholar, either. But the president is. He was a constitutional law professor before he got into politics. And he wants to keep religion separate from government.

Santorum has a different view. He declares he was nauseated by John Kennedy’s promise to separate his Roman Catholic faith from his presidential policies.

I see Santorum as a dangerous zealot.

He wants to impose his religious views on everybody else – not just in America but worldwide. And he is prepared to use bombs to do it.

As a Roman Catholic, he insists not merely that the rest of us tolerate his beliefs but that we submit to the dogma of his church. Frighteningly, he seems to have the support of America’s Catholic bishops and a surprising number of politicians we never even knew were Catholic.

We’re not talking about Christianity. We’re talking about a particular denomination insisting that we all accept their interpretation of the Bible.

God help us if these tyrants ever get control of the world’s most powerful country. History abounds in examples of the excesses they have imposed and the abject misery they have inflicted.