Religion in the churches, free and unfettered by the state - no state backed OR persecuted faith traditions.
Politics in the state, free and unfettered by the religious passions of the day (and ANY day when it leaves the churches and enters the public square).
Religion - ANY or ALL of them in reality - has a rigidity of belief and requirements for admission that simply do not belong in decisions for all citizens to be held to. It is a voluntary act to be a member of one of these clubs, and as such, it muse NEVER be compulsory at the direction of the state or enforced specifically using the power of the state.
I firmly believe that anyone has the right in America to believe whatever they want - so long as it does not harm others, negatively impact society or unduly influence the freedoms of others to do likewise. I don't care about any of them, because I share none of them, and that is the way our governance should follow - if your religion bars YOU from alcohol, so be it...but that has NO BEARING ON ME or anyone else not of your traditions; if your religion commands you to hate, so be it...but that does not obligate me OR SOCIETY in general to mandatory reciprocation; if you believe a zygote or fetus is a person despite a total inability to survive without machine assistance or extraordinary, so be it...adopt as many as you can muster, but that does not eliminate a woman's right to choose the fate of her own body.
I find religions to be comically misguided things, founded around the concept of control of the people through willing abdication of their own responsibilities in life, but I defend anyone's right to huff as much bat guano as possible, just keep it in the proper places and away from my children or we will have words (or more)...
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