Why government isn't an arm of religion

I was listening to conservative talk radio yesterday and the host re-played a caller of his from earlier in the week. The caller was religious and did not believe that her religion and her church should have same sex marriages. That was against her personal religious beliefs. But, she was of the belief, that just because she personally was religiously opposed to marriage equality for gays and lesbians, that the government itself shouldn't necessary reflect those religious beliefs. The caller, who is named Reggie, said she voted for President Obama because Obama wasn't to represent all Americans, including gays.

The talk show host couldn't intellectually grasp her point. It seemed beyond his understanding. To him, and unfortunately many others on the religious right-wing, whatever their religion says about an issue, means that government should say about the same issue. If her religion opposed same sex marriages, well she better oppose same sex marriages through the government. This is of course the same opinion that mullahs in Saudi Arabia and Iran have, that the government should reflect the demands of religion.

We need more Reggies, people who understand that the government is not an arm of religion or churches. Maybe then, we can have the secular Enlightenment based republic that the Founders gave us.