Who's talking about "State Religions"?? I'll put this so anyone can understand it: Your "theological grid" -- be it Christianity, atheism (yes, no religion IS a religion), Islam, buddhists...WHATEVER -- inevitably influences your worldview of things, ALL things. Ergo, it will influence your political philosophies, choices, etc., etc., etc. And "birds of a feather flock together," so whichever social faction is most in line with your ideas is the one you'll gravitate towards. Such factions can revolutionize, disintegrate, re-build, revise, etc., governments. And if you don't think that's true, then I'd point you to the history of Rome, where Christianity changed the entire continent for centuries. I'd also bring up a little "non-religious religion" called Communism and its effect on many nations. So, whether you prefer folks don't mix religion and politics or not, it's inevitably done. Everything you perceive is interpreted through your own little personal gridwork, and whether your conscious of it or not, it affects everything you do, say, or think.

BTW, "separation of church and state" isn't found in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. And the oft-raised argument by your side of the fence (as used here also) is downright wrong and out-of-context from the intention of the "founding fathers" to which you so quickly alluded. They never intended for so-called 'separation' to be as it is today, which is basically "freedom FROM religion." (I refer you to virtually any pending ACLU case to illustrate my point.) All they intended was to ensure the government could not mandate that all citizens be Catholic, or Baptist, or Presbyterian; they certainly never meant for this nation to get away from the idea of God and the ideals found in the Bible.

Yet here we are arguing about whether or not it's okay to say "Merry CHRISTmas." Yeah, I'm sure that's what our founding fathers had in mind.