“If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!”
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Deep personal conviction and public power are kept in separate rooms here: believe fiercely, even die for it, but don't let the government you run enforce it. The state's job is roads, health, money, and safety; what you worship stays private, which keeps faith and government from corrupting each other.
When to use it
- A manager who keeps her own politics out of how she assigns work and reviews her team.
- A public school that teaches every child equally regardless of the families' religions.
- A club treasurer who runs the accounts by the rules, never by who shares his beliefs.