The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.

Jerry Falwell (1933–2007), a prominent Baptist pastor and televangelist, became a leading figure in the late-20th-century U.S. Religious Right, especially through the Moral Majority (founded 1979). The quote is commonly invoked to summarize Falwell’s argument that Christians should not withdraw from electoral politics or public policy debates, but instead should organize and vote to shape the nation’s direction on issues such as abortion, school prayer, and “family values.” It reflects the broader backlash among conservative evangelicals against a perceived secularization of American public life and against interpretations of church–state separation that, in their view, pushed religious convictions out of civic decision-making.

The line frames political disengagement by believers as not merely mistaken but spiritually deceptive: the “Devil” is cast as the author of the maxim that religion and politics should be kept apart. Rhetorically, it turns a prudential question (how faith should relate to governance) into a moral imperative, urging Christians to see civic participation as part of religious duty. It also implies a proprietary claim—“their own country”—suggesting that Christian identity is foundational to national legitimacy. In quotation databases, it is often cited as emblematic of Falwell’s fusion of evangelical activism with partisan politics and his critique of strict secularism in the public square.