In the run-up to the June 7 general elections, Turkey's political scene has become tense and loud. The opposition parties are doing their best to advance their campaigns, and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is especially doing well, in part thanks to the unlimited state resources at its disposal. Meanwhile, the AKP's political narrative, which in the party's earlier years was embracing and cheerful, has become increasingly divisive and strident.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently presented an interesting example of this latter-day AKP narrative. In a speech to supporters in Denizli province and in other instances, he proclaimed, "God, the nation and history are with us." This trilogy, although admittedly poetic, is also emblematic of why and how the AKP narrative has gone wrong, at least from a liberal perspective.

Let's begin with the first element of the trilogy, God. To claim that "God is on our side" has been typical of most religions and sects throughout history, but it is different when a political party makes the same claim. Religions and sects are, by definition, faith-based communities, whereas political parties are supposed to be temporal organizations. Thus, a party's assertions should be based on empirical facts. When a political party claims, "We have reduced unemployment," it makes a statement that one can verify by looking at labor statistics, but there is no way to verify that God is on a party's side.

The problem here is not just "too much religion in politics," as secularists would argue. Rather, it is the exploitation of religion for political gains. Admittedly, religion is an attractive resource to exploit. Stating that "God is on our side" implicitly means that the other political parties are pitted not only against the party, but against God as well. No wonder a popular pro-AKP commentator declared, "Those who do not vote for Erdogan are nonbelievers," and an AKP voter claimed, "It is [religiously] obligatory to vote for the AKP. Those who do not will be infidels."