Religion and Politics

Okay, so I just posted like an hour or two ago, but I guess there's a lot on my mind.
So who in their right mind would talk about the two most divisive and controversial subjects in the world in the same blog post? Probably no one - which implies, of course, that I am not in my right mind...perhaps I am in my left mind.
So anyway, with the elections drawing ever nearer, and with my general feeling of malaise toward all things political (despite the fact that I am fascinated by politics), I figured I should probably spill out the contents of my mind on the subject.
First of all, I should probably get it out of the way that I tend not to identify myself as "Republican," or even so much "Conservative." I am a Christian. I believe the Bible, and I do my best to interpret the moral questions of our day through the lens of my understanding of scripture, which is not as easy or cut and dried as many Christians would like to assume (just to put your minds at ease, regarding most of the big partisan issues I tend to side with the conservative viewpoint, especially those that fall into the realm of moral issues - but rarely on anything else).
Anyway, that's not my point. These days there are a lot of questions floating around about how much religion should be allowed in the political process. This is mostly because our current president professes to be a man of faith, and this makes many people uncomfortable. However, the question I would like to pose is this - How much politics should we allow into our religious process? It pains me and quite honestly frightens me a bit to see how much the Christian community in America has married their religious views and their political views. It has come to be assumed that if you are a true Christian, you will also hold to Conservative political values. Why? Simply because of the "big" issues like abortion, and gay marriage? (Not that it is unimportant where you stand on these issues, but by no means do these "biggies" define the whole sphere of conservative or liberal thought.)
It's not that I believe that our political views and our religious views are, or should be, mutually exclusive. But it seems that we have almost put them on the same shelf of authority. We assume that what the preacher says on Sunday morning, what James Dobson says on his daily radio program, and what Fox News tells us on their evening broadcast are all equally authoritative. Is this a good approach to determining truth?
For instance, ask yourself this question - why is abortion wrong? If you are a Christian, you probably said something like, "Because God says it is wrong," or "Because God hates it," or "Because murder is wrong." You may be right, but where does God say it is wrong? How do you know He hates it? Is it murder to terminate a life before birth? If you cannot answer these questions from a Biblical point of view, then you have been swayed by political opinion, and not by God's Word.
Okay, do I sound harsh? Maybe I am being harsh (and by the way, for those of you getting a little nervous, I would place myself in the Pro-Life category). My point is this, we have allowed politics to influence our beliefs and values as much as (if not more, in some cases) than the Word of the Living God! This is unbecoming of the Christian. Again, as Christians we ought to have strong political views, and I consider the fact that we have the privilege of influencing the decisions of our government through voting to be a wonderful gift that we should not squander. However, let's get our information from the Bible, not from Dennis Prager, or Rush Limbaugh (please no!), or Sean Hannity, or even James Dobson, as well-intentioned as they all may be.
I guess my point is that I'm kind of tired of seeing all these politically-charged Christians, in place of the far superior Christ-charged Christians. I guarantee that if we want to see God transform this nation, it's going to happen more through the propogation of the Gospel, then through involvement in the political process. People need Jesus, not politics.