Rhian, you may have religious beliefs but you are wrong, very wrong; that an elected politician should be allowed to make policy according to their religious beliefs.
You are lowering yourself to "Runners" antisocial comment, and as an immigrant from the UK, your posting borders on the UK immigrants who supported Pauline Hanson.

I think you are misreading the nuance in Rhian's position, Kipp... "or to allow religious convictions to shape their views on moral and policy questions."

Just as your assertion that it is "wrong, very wrong; that an elected politician should be allowed to make policy according to their religious beliefs." presumably isn't meant to require politicians to only make policy that is inconsistent with their religious beliefs... since that closes the door on all "care for the needy" and "good works" legislation.

But, you are worried unnecessarily as there seems little evidence of politicians ever letting purported religious beliefs get in the way of their personal benefit and political expediency.

"It strikes me as a little strange"

Religion strikes me as A LOT strange.

"that out of all the problems besetting our country, amidst all of the turmoil that we've had in the last few years, that the Australian Sex Party has focused its political campaigning on the threat purportedly posed by some invisible gaggle of cashed-up bishops who are secretly pulling the strings of our political leaders

Bravo to the ASP and that's one of the reasons why they get my vote for the Senate.

I would go further and ban religious organisations.

Numpties like Cardinal Pell denying the science of climate change, helping condemn Billions and lets not mention the ACL shall we ?

Having children deliberately exposed to religious nonsense is nothing short of child abuse. We tell them to stop believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy we just stop there, we need to go one more and and tell them to stop believing in other mythical figures, like Zeus, Thor, Odin, Jehovah, Allah etc

The sooner the DSM includes the delusion over religious beliefs as a physiological disorder, the better.

Kipp

A person who takes their faith seriously can’t leave it at the door when they go to work.

This doesn’t mean using some facile “what would Jesus do” mantra when making decisions, nor simply following the church’s official position on issues like abortion or same sex marriage (neither of which, in conscience, I support). A politician, for example, has wider responsibilities and accountabilities that would make either of these approaches improper.

But, all people need to think through the moral dimensions of some issues, and Christians will do this through an ethical framework shaped by their faith. They may reach opposite conclusions on the same issue – same sex marriage is an obvious example – but only a small minority of fundamentalists believe there is only one “right” Christian perspective on these questions.

I've got no problem with religion being taught at schools, but as a general subject and one that includes all religions and discussing origins, differences and similarities.

Education is the purpose of schools - indoctrination is not, and I for one don't like to see my taxes going to subsidise specific self-interested ideologies.