I believe in the separation of church and state, but I do not believe in the separation of politics from religion.

The statement draws a distinction between institutional boundaries and personal moral influence. Affirming “separation of church and state” signals support for a constitutional arrangement in which government does not establish or control a church. Rejecting “separation of politics from religion” argues that religious convictions inevitably shape citizens’ values and therefore their political choices. In this view, faith communities and believers may legitimately speak into public debates—on justice, poverty, life, family, or war—so long as they do not seek state enforcement of doctrine or privileged legal status. The quote encapsulates a common position in American public religion: protect pluralism legally, while resisting the privatization of faith culturally.