From my good friend, Lambrusco, on the island, next to the Continent, across the

pond
Lambrusco Emilia

Before considering the proper relationship of religion to politics, we must consider its relationship to
morality. Religious beliefs refer to both creedal and moral realities, the former about reality's first and last
things or ultimate realities, the latter regarding this, that and the other thing or our proximate realities.
Beliefs about ultimate reality are grounded in either a fideism or rationalist, plausibilistic metaphysics.
These don't jump high epistemic hurdles even though they are justifiably actionable, existentially. Beliefs
about proximate realities are empirical and probabilistic. This includes moral realities, which are
grounded in our common sense and common sensibilities. While creedal beliefs often entail a 'theory of
truth,' that's quite distinct from a 'theory of knowledge,' which sets forth how we access that truth,
including moral stances.
Creedal beliefs rely on putative special revelation. Moral truths are transparent to human reason, even
without the benefit of special divine revelation. Because moral truths are transparent to reason, grounded
in empirical, practical, rational and probabilistic realities, they are understandably more universally
compelling and should be. Creedal beliefs, not so much.
While both creedal and moral truths come under the aegis of religion, our free exercise "
nonestablishment rights regarding creedal beliefs have seldom been abridged to advance the common
good but have more often been restricted regarding moral beliefs. The 1st Amendment thus implicitly
recognizes that the epistemic disparity between creedal and moral foundations translates into varying
degrees of normative impetus.
The speculative takeaway is that it's not the secular liberal regime that curtails religious liberties but good
epistemology. The practical takeaway is that neither form of Political Islam, distinguished by the modus
operandi of soft power, ballot Islamism, or of hard power, bullet Islamism, is philosophically defensible.
Theocratic urges must be actively resisted everywhere, regardless of creed, whether a given society is
pluralistic or not, because 'nonestablishment' is a basic human right.