Donald trolls us again

Separation of church and state is a concept that owes at least as much of its genesis to Christian teaching as it does to the Enlightenment. When Christ tells people to "render unto Caesar," he is specifically acknowledging a secular authority distinct from religion, and doing so in a way that indicated his own submission to secular authority.

If similar passages are to be found in the Koran, I am unable to find them; the closest is a passage that says "there is no compulsion in religion" - and those over the centuries who have converted to Islam at sword point would probably argue that even this hasn't born out in practice. But I'm not Muslim, and I welcome correction from anyone with a better understanding of this than I have. For what it's worth, a brief and decidedly anecdotal survey of Internet posts that match the terms "separation of church and state islam" give no definitive answer, but those who dispute that separation is possible are more likely to quote scripture in support of their position.

Absent any clear articulation that reconciles the concept of separation between church and state with Islamic scripture and centuries of Muslim teaching and practice, it's fair to question whether adherents of Islam genuinely embrace the kind of sacred/secular distinction that is behind the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. And given that those same Islamic scriptures, teachings and practices justify lying - even under oath - to advance the cause of Islam, the sad truth is that while Donald Trump may have the wrong answer, he's at least asking some of the right, although difficult, questions.

And, sadly, *no one* else is. So I propose a question: How should the US respond to a religion which teaches core values that are at odds with its basic constitutional principles, and whose leaders articulate doctrines that go so far as to justify deceit, and even violence, to undermine the US government and threaten its citizens? I'm not saying that religion is necesarily Islam, but I think we need to have a conversation about how we would handle one, if only  hypothetically.