The separation of church and state is a major component of the American political system and its civil religious mythology. American politics have often come wrapped in religious piety. Some 70 percent have no formal national religion, and all but 7 percent make some constitutional provision for religious freedom. Pakistan offers a case of not only a religious state but a society undergoing religious ferment. A formal religious state under the Lutheran church of Sweden, the country is simultaneously one of the world’s most secular societies as measured by almost any criterion of religious behavior or belief. Local religious customs such as the Islamic prohibition of financial interest introduce extraneous factors which may alienate potential partners and allies. Religious commitments made by political officials can be broken by bureaucratic functionaries. The separation of church and state is a construct of political theory rather than a description of governing reality.