Religion did exactly what the framers feared: it poisoned the political system. Incidentally, this fear was not confined to the founders; nor is it an issue the left and right need disagree on. The father of the modern conservative movement, Barry Goldwater, recognized and feared the inflexibility of religion in politics in 1994 when he famously insisted, “If and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem.
