--- description: The end of American religion, living with ISIS, making mosquitoes that don't transmit Dengue fever, Putin's warlords and more. title: Why Religion Isn't Good for Politics image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Religion Isn't Good for Politics by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2015 4:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2015 4:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**Religion in America is disappearing. That’s great for politics.**](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/pew-survey-religion-118834.html?hp=r2%5F4#.VXmNHmRVhBd "undefined") By Michael Shermer in Politico **2\.** [**What should we do if ISIS wins? Live with it.**](http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/10/what-should-we-do-if-isis-islamic-state-wins-containment/ "undefined") By Stephen M. Walt in Foreign Policy **3\.** [**To get rid of Dengue fever, we’re modifying the mosquitoes that carry it.**](https://theconversation.com/modifying-mosquitoes-to-stop-transmission-of-dengue-fever-42287 "undefined") By Marc Zimmer in the Conversation **4\.** [**Putin’s warlords are slipping out of control.**](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/opinion/putins-warlords-slip-out-of-control.html "undefined") By Adrian Karatnycky in the New York Times **5\.** [**Don’t get a degree in a “hot” field.**](http://time.com/money/3913735/college-majors-hot-job-field-stem/ "undefined") By Peter Cappelli in Money  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/"},"headline":"Why Religion Isn't Good for Politics","datePublished":"2015-06-12T16:01:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:05.071Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/","keywords":["Innovation","putin","College","Religion","ISIS"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/","name":"Why Religion Isn't Good for Politics"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years","description":"From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3nRIB78f/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-12T22:49:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3nRIB78f.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/","duration":"PT2M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3918877/religion-politics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```