Never one to let an opportunity for paranoia pass by, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins found a way to link fear of ISIS with one of his favorite fears, thespecter of secularism (which is going to make Christianity illegal any day now).

In an online "radio" commentary, Perkins explained why SO MANY American youths have run away to join ISIS: It's because Jesus has been taken out of America by all this "separation of church and state" nonsense, which is not in the Bible OR the U.S. Constitution (but it could be in the Koran, not that he'd know because he would never read that thing).

Here's how it all works, children:

Americans have been shocked to see the brutality and barbarism of the Islamic militants of ISIS, and they've been stunned by the revelations that radicalized Americans have joined their ranks and taken up their cause. Pundits and politicians alike have publicly pondered the question as to how young Americans can be sucked into such an evil venture. While it may be troubling, the answer is not hard. Radical secularism that has driven the defining characteristics of our Western culture, our Judeo-Christian heritage, from our schools, our entertainment and even our government has left in its place a void, a vacuum. And we should know from experience that a vacuum will be filled by something.

If only mandatory Bible readings were still in our schools, then the handful of Americans who have gone to join ISIS would never, ever have encountered Islamic radicalism. But as it is, there's a giant sucking sound that would give Ross Perot pause, and that sucking is actually the hiss of the Jihadi snake charmers and their siren call to prayer at the mosque! But it doesn't have to be that way, America! You see, if the government would just promote Christianity, all would be well:

Without a creedal vision that a society can unify around, the people, the nation, will perish. Unless we are content to allow ISIS or some other radical belief system to fill the void left by secularism, we must rediscover America's founding, Christ-centered vision.

This is SO TRUE -- just look at how a shared commitment to Christianity made Northern Ireland such a peaceful place!

Now, we suppose if we wanted to be right bastards about it, we could even point out that the biggest vacuum in Iraq was created when the Sunni-favoring but largely secular government of Saddam Hussein was shocked and awed out of power, compounded by the "de-Ba'athification" policy that sent the Iraqi army and bureaucracy home with no paychecks but plenty of AK-47s, which is where ISIS really got its start... but Tony Perkins wouldn't hear a word of it, since his skull would have already imploded at the notion that secularism is a source of stability, a crazy idea promoted by those Bible-hating loons Jefferson and Madison.

[RightWingWatch]