I like that secularists in Turkey are keeping their country secular. God knows we have suffered and will probably suffer from governments, leaders and religious people trying to insert God directly into politics instead of just considering religion as a source of shared values. During my teaching here at Princeton, and during some of my travels in the U.S., I have found that people have some doubts about the principle of separation of church and state (it applies to all religions.) Indeed, they were surprised when I told them that this is one area in which many true democrats look favorably at the U.S. and the west.

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