I NOTE that the Vicar of Bolton was musing on the subject of whether God should get a mention in the constitution for the EU in his column last week.

I, for one, sincerely hope that he does not, for if there is one thing we should have learned from history, it is that you should never mix religion with politics.

There was a time when religion did rule in Britain and Europe, a time we now call the dark ages, when men were not free to think or speak as they wished. These were the days when the official torturer was at hand to tear out your tongue, stretch you on the rack, or burn you alive at the stake for blasphemy. Woe betide you should you even hint at anything so heretical as the possibility that the earth might travel around the sun.

Fortunately, the power of the Church was eventually curbed, and men at last became free to pursue knowledge. This was the beginning of what we now call the age of enlightenment

Do not think such things could not happen today. They can, and they do. We have seen recently in Afghanistan an extreme religious government which took that country back into the Stone Age, with public hangings, men having their hands cut off and women stoned to death in the streets

While I would not suggest anything so extreme could happen today in Europe, it nevertheless indicates the negative effect of religion if given any kind of real influence. We can see this today in those countries where religious parties are in control, countries which were once in the forefront of knowledge and learning are now considered backward, and where freedom and democracy as we know it does not exist.

Let us learn from history -- and ensure that never again do we mix religion with politics.

David Haworth

Upper Mead

Egerton, Bolton