Another Blow Against the Great Separation

I just finished reading Mark Lilla's book The Stillborn God, which tells the story of what he calls the unique "thought experiment" of the "great separation" between religion and politics that was given birth in the western world in response to the horrendous religious wars that engulfed Europe after the Reformation. The brainchild of Hobbes, who clearly saw the dangerous influence of religious fanaticism and messianism on politics, the great separation took religion out of the realm of politics and gave to politics the limited role of regulating human affairs without relying on divine sanction.

Lilla contends that this extraordinarily successful experiment is also very fragile, beset both by well-meaning liberal religious people who think it denigrates the inherit goodness of religion and by fanatics of varying religious persuasions who think it defies the will of God.

The assassination of Pakistani Presidential candidate Benazir Bhutto is another reminder of how fragile the great separation is and of how far some will go to bring it down.