What Hannah Aboul-Hosn fails to realize in her opinion column, "Bible not legitimate source for political views", Jan. 19 is that religion, or even the lack there of, forms everyone's political views.

She wants to keep religion "personal," separate from the world in which everyone lives. That is quite fine, except that she herself would have to keep her value system personal as well. This means that her views on marriage would be just as invalid as a hardcore Christian or radical Islamist.

The point of fact is this: One's belief system is shaped by many factors, including religion and the lack of religion. It is inherently impossible to separate the two. If you disagree, ask yourself why you feel strongly on one political position or another. Try abortion. What you will find is that you lean to one end of the political spectrum based on your value system.

To ask someone to disregard religion or their personal values for sake of political debate is ludicrous. All that Aboul-Hosn has shown by suggesting such a separation is her lack of critical thinking and reasoning skills. The way to change people and their ideas is to show them the flaws in their thinking, not to disregard them because of the source.