turkish delight

It is refreshing to see thousands of Turkish citizens demanding the resignation of the government because they feel the religious zeal of the country's leaders threatens to destroy the country's modern foundations. I wish the same would happen in Iran. It sure would help defuse a lot of the anti-western rhetoric currently making the rounds over there. But alas, the conservative-religious factions are gaining in power, even going so far as to publicly condemn Iran's president for kissing the hand of his former teacher, who happens to be a woman. This was apparently "indecent" and a violation of "religious values." (Ahmadinejad has already come under fire for suggesting --Allah forbid -- that women be allowed to watch football matches.) As religious-based terrorism is on the rise, it is critical that we remove religious zeal from political discourse and from the government of our nations altogether. When will we get it through our thick skulls that religion in the political sphere is always a divisive element?