Quote Originally Posted by Aesop
I completely agree with your statement that religion is probably one of the best ways to maintain control of the populace. Do this or go to hell! is a great way to motivate people, yes. It's a (and I apologize for the language) fucking horrible thing to use religion for, but yes it's effective. I don't agree that it's critical to a stable government though. Here in the U.S. we have many different orginizations trying to save our souls and although the majority are Christian, there are large groups of other faiths that take part in the political process. There are also large groups of atheists and agnostics that have an impact. And of course the politically correct army keeping their fingers in the government pie and religion out of our schools. Even with all that going on our lives are as stable as one could expect in a state of an ongoing war. Also you choose to interpret Creator as God. All right. Which God? Jefferson doesn't say YWHW or Allah or even Jesus, just Creator and as Jefferson was himself dubious of organized religon I doubt he was advocating the use of it as a governing tool.
Hmmm, while faith takes place in the political process, I'm not sure the actual religion matters, provided it follows one particular tenent. "Don't be a dick, and you will go to heaven where your every desire will be fulfilled. Be a dick, and go to hell, where the worst thing possible will happen to you constantly." That's the attitude necessary for threats without followup. And let's face it, a majority of religions use that particular party line with just a lot of other stuff thrown in.

Oh, and I really don't choose to interpret creator as anything, honestly. I am not christian, but god is simply less letters to type. If such a being were to actually exist, I honestly don't think he (HA, yes, I used he instead of he or she, politically incorrect, here I come!) will really be so petty as to be pissed off because I used a different word for his name. And if I recall correctly, the majority of the signers of the Declaration were Deists. However, I'm not sure that means that they didn't understand the value of a population kept in control using religion. The Constitution and the laws put into place afterwards were actually based on Hobbes's political philosophies. And while Hobbes certainly wasn't of the most joyful souls, his theories have proven themselves to be sound when it comes to laws and government. Just because a man doesn't believe in something, doesn't mean that he can't believe in the power it holds over others.