Georgiansilver...I believe you are in England? Doesn't the Church of England rule in various secular matters? (I could be wrong about this, but I do remember hearing that England has an 'official' church..)

In the USA, beside having "In God We Trust" on our money and "one nation under God" recently inserted into our Pledge of Allegience, we also have prayers offered at the opening of Congress, 'usually' straight Christian ones.....and in various Southern states, admonishments against prayer and religious teaching in public schools are routinely ignored, and specifically Christian prayers are offered over loudspeakers at ballgames. Add to this the practice of the current administration of promoting "Faith based inititives", wherein religious organizations(almost always 'conservative' organizations) get public money to "do good works"...and note that some science and medicine is severely restricted based primarily on 'moral' grounds which gets its definition from conservative religious principles. (Stem cell research is largely banned because of religious fears about 'souls', as are many abortion procedures).....

If it was not after midnight here, I could point to other laws, practices, Presidental 'decrees', court appointments, official negligence and local laws that support what I say...(In the state of Utah, the Mormon church manages to influence the law to forbid the sale of not only alcohol, but also tea and coffee in many public places...not just to Mormons, but to anyone.

I, obviously, do not care for these intrusive practices, whether they are DIRECT laws or simple intimidation. If I were in charge, YOU could worship as you pleased, avoid alcohol, not have abortions, and give your money to any church you wished....now, if YOU were in charge, could I buy alcohol, refuse to say "under God" when reciting the Pledge of Allegience, indulge in medical abortion when it seemed necessary and allow stem cell research on the aborted fetus and refuse to have my taxes go to religious groups?