The prophet and apostle John had a vision on Patmos, a rocky and lonely island where he had been sent as punishment for the exercise of his faith. There in vision he sees beasts from land and sea representing the global empires of the earth, and he sees the sinister, serpentine character which animates them and gives them their power. These revelations about the empires of the world rightly give us pause at any suggestion that the Church and the State unite in pursuit of a more Christian nation. How do we navigate the religious differences in our land? The revelation of Christ to John the apostle warns us against recruiting the government to enforce religious rules. As the vision reveals, such a union does the bidding of the enemy rather than the Savior!