The problem with mixing politics and religion is clear

It's difficult to miss the irony. At a time when this nation is involved in a war against a movement that believes religion and politics are inseparable, some people are trying harder than ever to bring their religion into American politics.
We're thinking particularly about Roy Moore, the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and his most ardent supporters.
It's safe to say that Moore has built his political career on the Ten Commandments. He first became known as the "Ten Commandments Judge" when he fought to display a wooden plaque of the commandments on his courtroom wall in Etowah County, Alabama, several years ago. He parlayed his willingness to declare that he didn't care what any federal court might say, his commandments were staying into an easy victory as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000.
A year later, literally under dark of night and without discussing his plan with any of the other justices, Moore oversaw the installation of a 5,300-pound granite sculpture of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the statehouse.
Quick resolution unlikely
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that the monument goes too far in promoting religion and ordered it removed within 30 days. Moore vows to appeal and says he has no plans to remove the sculpture.
Thompson said he does not believe all Ten Commandment displays in government buildings are illegal, but that Moore's monument crosses the line."Its sloping top and the religious air of the tablets unequivocally call to mind an open Bible resting on a podium," Thompson said.
Moore testified during the trial that the commandments are the moral foundation of American law. That may be true. But not everyone's commandments are the same -- quite literally. The scriptures of different religions use different translations and interpretations of the commandments. Moore's Ten Commandments are those of the King James Bible, to the exclusion of, for instance, Jewish or Catholic scripture.
Choosing another version wouldn't have made it right, it only would have pointed out why government shouldn't be promoting one over the other.
We're sure Moore wouldn't agree, but there is little difference between him and a Muslim fundamentalist who believes that it is his right to impose his religion on others for their own good.
Both judge and preacher are honorable professions, and Moore is free to choose one. But choose he must.