The American Heritage Dictionary defines ethics as:
1. system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
4. (usually used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

It defines religion as: Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

Ethics are a system of principles that are not necessarily based on a belief in a supernatural power, while religion is a system of principles that are based on and that revolve around the belief in a supernatural power. It is very possible to have ethics and not have religion. It is also very possible to have religion and have bad ethics. A case in point would be politicians who are very religious but bend and even break campaign contribution laws. A case in point on the other side of the fence would be a politician who is not religious but is completely honest in his dealings because it is the right thing to do.

Why is it important for politicians to make this distinction between religion and ethics? Two reasons; religion hurts politics and politics hurts religion.

The founding fathers understood very well the danger politics posed to the church, thus we have the establishment clause in the first amendment along with the right to exercise religious beliefs freely. Religion should not play a direct role in the political system because that, by it’s very nature, violates the religious rights of other groups and individuals with opposing views. While, public expression of religion, and political views based on religious ideas should not be stifled a direct role in the political system is undesirable.

So why is politics harmful to religion? There are several reasons. If religion mingles with politics then eventually politics will have influence on religion. Many religious organizations have become so concerned with social ethics in our political system that they are more or less lobbyist of their religious ideas and have forsaken their true purpose, to save souls.

Direct involvement in the political system by religion can also lead to a pigeon hole affect, where certain religions are associated with certain political movements or ideas, which could cause painful divisions within that religion.

The biggest reason politics are harmful to religion is that the religion, by cloaking its views in a religious ideology instead of ethical ideology hurt their own cause. A principle cloaked in religious ideology will offend those who are not religious or of a different religion causing a backlash against that principle, where if the principle was cloaked in a pure ethical ideology the same principle, through reasoning, may be accepted different religions and by non-religious persons. Arguing a principle from a religious point of view hurts the agenda of the religious in this pluralistic society.

Religions that become involved in politics may find themselves beholden to a political system, and politicians who argue a principle out of religious ideology may find themselves losing the battle. While religion is a wonderful and beautiful thing, intellectual arguments based on pure ethics will always when the day in our political arena.