Separation of church and state

St. Maarten is a very religious island. The separation of church and government was never a discussion point until the appearance of the Sint Maarten Christian Party, SMCP, in the political arena in 2015 and with the one seat the party managed to obtain in the 2018 elections, it has forever changed the political landscape of St. Maarten.
In all the discussions about the separation of church and state, the word ‘Christian’ in the SMCP party’s name seems to evoke the most emotion in certain people. But what needs to be clearly understood is that the Sint Maarten Christian Party is not a church, it is a political organization with political aspirations and political objectives.
Many people feel that religion should not be mixed with politics. The two cannot go together, like water and oil cannot mix. However, given the level of political maturity on our island, it is about time that the Christian/universal principles the SMCP is founded on start to be mixed with every day politics. Hopefully then we will see more integrity, accountability and good governance in our governments and by default in our politics.