But, of course, religion is hardly irrelevant to public policy. Gore's environmentalism and his desire to use government on behalf of the poor have religious roots. Bush's conviction that our great prosperity must be put at the service of great purposes comes from his faith. All of this can be pretty nebulous, though. But there is no common religion that will transcend all.
People generically believe, but no one believes generically.
Religion is always about these oughts or those, about whether some thing is a god, or rather an idol. We rightly should ask those who wish for political power how government ought to deal with the divergent faiths of our land. It is, for instance, the reality of differing and even conflicting faiths or moral visions that propels the demand for school choice, even beyond concern over test scores or physical safety. Schools always teach and embody some worldview, and all families don't agree about which one is right. Though Bush doesn't make so much of it, his education proposals admit the legitimacy of schools other than those falsely labeled common to all.