I believe that we are in a somewhat better place today. There is a growing consensus, right and left, that faith has social benefit. Go to church and you'll stay out of jail. But all that the gatekeepers have really allowed into the public square is an attenuated, watered-down version of religiosity. Modern secularists must be delighted.
Nothing is as powerful as religious faith in building character.
Nothing is as powerful as religious faith in turning people away from drugs and violence, idleness and despair. Nothing is as powerful as religious faith in helping all of us to lead worthy, decent, compassionate lives. It is religion's claim to truth. It follows, then, that if we want a society that reveres life, that defends the family, and that discourages delinquency and promotes decency, we cannot force a privatization of religion. The American experience in general, and the Pennsylvania experience in particular, refute this fear.