Re: original shia part 2
most of the 12 imams were never in power, and most of them lived in mecca/media except a few.
shias automatically believe in the seperation of church and state, regardless of all the hooplah about who got the first Khilafat. That argument is there because we believe the Prophet assigned Hazrat Ali as his successor, but even while not having the government, Hazrat Ali remained the spiritual leader of shias. His sons both had disputes about governments, but again there are explanations for why they "allegedly" sought power. With Muawiya/Hassan Imam Hassan extracted guarantees from Muawiya that he would rule according to the shari'at of the Prophet, amongst other things. Imam Hussain too never fought for attaining rulership, he fought about not giving his ba'yet to Yazeed.
Thereon, all of our imams were quietist, they stayed away from power centers, most of them were in prison except for two. They remained the source for fiqh etc but not for laws of the state.