For us I am not sure if they are intertwined nessesarily. However, our religion is a big part of our identity. I think it means we feel we are held to a higher standard than just the law of the land, and by a higher authority. So for us that does mean paying attention to what elected officials beleive and what laws are being passed that may affect our ability to follow our religion. I have read so many autobiographies of people who lived in Germany before WWII and almost none of them would have beleived before the war that such things could happen in Germany. I have been to Russia and spoken to a man whose father was sent to Siberia for being Christian and never heard from again. When my son was in first grade he had a teacher tell him that he could not pray silently over his lunch. She said she could tell he was praying by his bowed head and she asked him if he was praying he admitted it. I had to go to the principal to get it resolved. Luckily I knew the law and knew the teacher was wrong. Though she spent the whole year not liking him. Anyway, I think the answer is for any person of a strong faith, that is going to influence every area of your life, including politics. It's not that I only vote for people of my religion, but I vote for people most likely to defend my right to practice it. I also defend anyone elses right to practice thier religion even if it's different than mine. (since my family has several different religions, that's important to me)