BillD. Yes the Church of England has some say in secular matters but so do many other Churches.. What it does not do to me,as a Christian, is make laws that I need to abide by. I try, (probably very unsuccessfully as with most Christians), to live a Christian life by the example set by Jesus in the NT.... and by what I understand to be Gods expectations of me.
With regard to US money...yes you have "In God We Trust" and "One Nation under God" but what is on the back of your one dollar bill?.
The eye of horus sits as the capstone of a pyramid...certainly not of God but arrived as one of the two seals which represent the back of the one dollar bill.....two seals, received by Thomas Jefferson from the illuminati....There was a recent thread on the illuminati, on which I put a website for people to peruse if they wished...I will repeat it on here as I think it has much significance:-
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/
Take a look if you have time and see what has been happening in our world for many decades.
Some Christians are in a battle against the dark powers, why? Not for me to say but always worth a bit of research if you have the time.
England used to be called a "Christian" country and many people worshipped God. Times have changed and so have attitudes....but have they changed for the better? Moral and emotional values have been watered down, to such an extent, that almost "anything goes" is the modern attitude.
I am not sure about you but I would love to see a world where man lives in peace with his neighbour/brother( that includes women ). Where we all worked for the common good. Is that ever possible and what would it take. Whatever anyone might think of Christianity...the message from God has always been quite specific and if all lived by His expectations we would have no killings, no drug addiction or alcoholism, no sexually transmitted diseases etc etc.
No I am not trying to preach to anyone but your description of people...flouting the "non religious" laws just demonstrated to me that there are Christians still around 2004 yrs after the death of Christ and still struggling to maintain some kind of balance in the world.
Incidentally, If I were in charge..I could see no reason why you should not buy and consume alcohol, I do in moderation. I would also not expect you to pay towards religious groups when taxed.
As to interfering with the human life form whether abortion or other....I would be totally against it.
What I certainly would do is respect your right to choose who or what you worship whether I agree with you or not. We all have the right to choose....the freewill.
Best wishes.