When a church reaches up beyond its group and tries to enforce its standards upon a society that doesn't accept these standards, and perhaps for good reason, perhaps for bad reason, but anyway this is the problem we face in pluralistic society, that not necessarily every standard that every church tries to enforce upon the society is from the society's standpoint a good standard.
Religion mustn't interfere with the state - so one of the basic Democratic principles as we know it in America is the separation of church and state.
There must be a realm of truth beyond political competence, that's why there must be a separation of churches, but if religion is bad and a bad religion is one that gives an ultimate sanctity to some particular cause.
Whenever a church does anything for its own group, it has that right.
The separation of church and state is necessary partly because if religion is good then the state shouldn't interfere with the religious vision or with the religious prophet.
The churches that are most obviously democratic are most obviously given to race prejudice. I mean the churches that have absolute congregational control.
