Open Mike 2 : Uniform Civil Code etc. (a comment republished)

I'm creating a new post of one of Santhosh's comments since the comments are hidden away from the main page. Lots of relevant points and interesting links in this comment post. Hence putting this up here.

Hi All,

In last TOM, one discussion led to another and we reached a point
where we talked about 'Religion and State' in the US. So, the general
thought was that religion and state are sufficiently separated in at
least how laws are formed. I was not so sure about it. Did some more
research to find that -

1. Legal cases regarding interpretation of laws and separating the
bible from rights/laws -
http://www.pbs.org/flashpointsusa/20040127/infocus/topic_02/

2. While its generally true that the federal constitution is free from
the mention of 'god', state constitutions are not -
http://www.usconstitution.net/states_god.html
( In fact, in Arkansas and maryland, if you don't believe in God, you
are constitutionally forbidden from being witnesses in a trial.)

3. When presidents form opinions on aspects like abortion or gay
marriage based on their faith or bible
(http://www.pbs.org/flashpointsusa/20040127/infocus/topic_03/index.html
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33837), it
does mean that religion could play a role in the direction of law
making process.

4. If a presidential nominee can put an 'advtmt' mentioning himself as
a 'Christian Leader' (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjtGgfhKIvo
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/us/politics/27adbox.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1203354583-04/njadOVSrhAAvZSuRbkA&oref=slogin).
it again shows the belief of the nominee who is not hesitant to admit
most of his thought process would be based of what his faith taught
him. If elected, this faith could play a role in law making process.

Now, I sent these links to not discuss the merit vs demerits of
religion in state - but, just to understand that religion does
influence policies and law making process in many countries including
the US.

Thanks,
Santhosh.