Iraq is the immediate trigger, but this is about religious delusion.I couldn't agree more on the subject of seperation of church and state.However, it seems to me to be at best misguided to think that this is a solution to terrorism. It is a political and cultural problem. Putting an end to arabo-muslim hatred of 'westerners' is the first step. To do this, there must be an end to 'western' terror and imperialism.
But never was it more important to separate the state from all faiths and relegate all religion to the private - but well-regulated - sphere.
But this is not choice. Only yesterday an angry email arrived from a parent on the south coast protesting that the only choice of primary school was a C of E, a Catholic and an oversubscribed ordinary school. Disqualified from the first two, failing to get into the third, their child is sent miles across town; three nonreligious schools would have been genuine choice.Secularism should not mean taking away religious freedom. Choice means giving people the choice between different faiths as well as secularism.
Secularism can become extremist its self. This is the case in France, where xenophobia and a post-colonialist mentality is using secularism to exclude muslim girls from schools.
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