I'm not responding the rest of the thread, just voicing my thoughts.

Having religious people in power does not necessarily scare me. It is possibly to be perfectly reasonable and religious. I might worry a little about what sort of decisions a strongly religious person might make, given that they already (in my view) accept illogical ideas, but that is not significant; it is possible to be reasonable and religious. However, I am scared by fundamentalists holding a position of power. Many of these people demonstrate a shocking disregard for human rights and for the enviroment. I do not want somebody in power who believes this world doesn't matter because the "Second Coming" is right around the corner. Nor do I want somebody in power who will use their personal beliefs as justification for discrimination. Nor do I want somebody in power who will try to replace science with their beliefs.