Standing in support of American Civil Religion but believing it should be kept away from certain social functions due to Separation Of Church And State.

@gaditb yeah i agree with this largely; i think this is how many progressives view patriotism

@Lady Is "voting is a moral obligation" not part of [some denominations of] American Civil Religion?

@gaditb @Lady i feel like saying one has a moral obligation to vote does not necessarily run counter to separation of church and state

@Satsuma @gaditb well, i think saying one has a moral obligation to vote in specific instances does not necessarily violate the principle. saying one has a moral obligation to vote in races which are not competitive and will not change anything is pretty clearly civil religion

@gaditb @Lady this isn’t a tenet of my religion so i do not feel strongly about the specifics of execution but if, hypothetically, the pope came out and was like “i feel it is a moral duty that everyone always vote, even when doing so is largely symbolic” that would not be an issue of separation of church and state because the pope is not the government, even if he is encouraging people to take actions which will impact the makeup of the government.

similarly as long as the authority for american civil religion directing people to vote is not the government this is also not an issue of separation of church and state. and the government is currently quite anti voting so i feel safe to assume this is the case

@Satsuma @Lady Not that it is enforced, especially against major Christian groups, but iirc "preaching politics from the pulpit" -- endorsing a specific candidate as part of a religious service -- is a violation of the separation of church and state.

Which is not quite there, but I think depending on where you draw the lines around American Civil Religion as a piece of society you'll easily include specific candidate endorsements?