GG>I see government as a backbone to create the place that we can be the
  >people God wanted us to be.  Sometimes Godly people find their way into
  >government office.  But all and all, goverment is an instrumentality, a
  >means, a tool to make all this happen.  It is not perfect, man-made, and
  >should not be mixed up with God in any form.

No.. In a perfect world the Gov't is there to more or less make
sure the citizens are safe and fed and that the 'trains run on time'
(to generalize all things infrastructure related)..
Some may argue that the laws which protect the people are based in
some part on religion but I don't think all non-religious people are
pro chaos and murder crazed so I'd call them societal mores..
Call it 'civilization' rather than religion.

But you are right that most religions teach a good basis in moral
thinking and behaviour as long as the 'priests' don't distort the
message to serve their own purposes. Most violent acts perpetrated
in the name of religion are forbidden in those very texts if people
took the time to read the whole thing and think for themselves rather
than being brainwashed by some fanatic picking and choosing small
parts that serve their agenda and ignoring the parts they don't like.

---
 * SLMR Rob  * Don't take life too seriously, it's not permanent... *
 * PDQWK 2.52 #17


--- GTMail 1.26