Is there a useful compromise between a religious state and a secular state?

Answer 1

The values you speak of can be and should be applied in politics,but the religion behind the value needs to be kept separate from our government.If there was only one religion then perhaps but there are thousands of different ones ,standing together but yet divided by the different teachings of the different groups.
I want my country guided by intelligent thinking people that can see beyond their own ,religious or other wise,beliefs and make decisions based on fact not religious teachings.The church's must remain separate in order for this great diverse country to survive and grow stronger.

Answer 2

No. You either have one or you have the other.

Religion is an incredibly strong driving (some say controlling) force in many people's lives. It causes people to think a certain way and believe certain values, and for the most part, those beliefs and values are being decided by the people leading that particular religion.

That's all well and good until you mix it with politics. We've already seen the problem in this country if people passing laws to enforce their personal beliefs, and using federal or state power to get the police to enforce morality. It's bad enough when that morality is coming from social and individual sources.

Combine that with religion and what what you get. The leaders of the religion tell us something is bad. If enough of us believe them, we get together as a majority and pass laws saying it's bad. Suddenly, we have religious leaders in effect deciding what's legal and what's illegal.

And don't forget that we live in a majority-rule might-makes-right system. Once you hit 51% belief in something, that becomes law. Which means that we must be conscious of the laws that we enact and the reasons for enacting them.

Most religions (not all, but most) believe they are right, and other religions that oppose them are wrong. Oddly, it seems to be the smaller (minority) religions that are willing to be tolerant of other beliefs and support people's rights to believe different. The larger a religion gets, the more it tends to be self-reinforcing that it is the One True Way™.

So, what you end up with is a large religion, believing that it is right and those who oppose it are wrong, in the majority, being able to impose their religious beliefs and morals as a matter of law. Suddenly, without any effort at all, you have a state religion, whether it's called officially that or not.

Religious dogma is inherently incompatible with democratic law, as long as people are going to continue trying to get others to believe as they do. Only by an absolute willingness to show restraint and to welcome diversity of beliefs can you avoid the nightmare.

And sadly, all evidence points to the fact that the human race is nowhere close to achieving that level of enlightenment. So, the only way to avoid having a state religion is to mandate that laws cannot be enacted based primarily or solely on religious grounds.

Answer 3

There's nothing useful about a religious state. No compromise needed, secular is the only state we should have...

Answer 4

Not really, I think it comes down to how much responsibility for our destiny people are really willing to take on. I could tell you what to do, but I dont guess that would be very fair. Hows this, you tell me whatever you think and we'll do that.