Uggh. When religious leaders get the ear of the mighty and powerful in the political sphere, bad things happen way, way too often. This is different from Martin Luther King, Jr., conferring with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, because he never once threw in his (or his people’s) lot with them. Indeed, religious histories are replete with prophets speaking truth to power.

No, I’m talking about when political (“temporal”) leaders consult with religious leaders about what laws to make and enforce. And when they invite religious leaders to help craft these laws. And when they put religious leaders on their payroll. NOT GOOD. BAD. TERRIBLE IDEA. IT SUCKS.

Even if you might agree with this or that particular law, this entanglement is BAD. Yes, I know I’m American and have been indoctrinated in the value (currently under very heavy push-back) of separating religion and government with a firewall. And I know that going back and judging what people in past centuries and countries did comes from this particular perspective. So be it. I STILL think it stinks, and today’s “saint” is a good example of an advisor to a king who helped create crappy laws that punish people harshly while rewarding churches and consolidating the king’s powerful grip on the throat of the people.

Like I said, IT SUCKS.

Today’s saint bore the name of Hedda. No, this religious leader was not female (though virulent like Hedda Hopper, this was an advisor to a king and was, unsurprisingly, male). A Saxon king in England in the late 7th century named Ina chose Hedda to assist in creating what Butler dares to call “wise and wholesome laws.” What are some examples of these wise and wholesome laws drawn up by Ina and the ultra-Christian Hedda? Here are a few:

• Theft is to be punished by cutting off an arm or a foot.
• Highway robbery by a band of seven or more is to be punished by executing all of them.
• Failure to pay one’s assessed amount to the church is to be punished with a serious financial penalty on top of the requirement of making back payments.

No doubt the proponents of this “wisdom” were all in favor of law & order and requiring support of the institutional church. Maybe they even said things like “these are the very bedrock of our social order.” Yet, yet, yet… one might be tempted to ask, “With such Christian influence, mightn’t one look for mercy or forgiveness?” Nope. Dream on. Or, better yet, wake up from that dreamworld.

It almost seems axiomatic that when religion is in bed with the government, it is not for the purpose of maximizing mercy, peacemaking, humility, and love in the world.

Like I said, IT SUCKS.