Every society seems to need taboos, no-go areas, de facto blasphemy laws. How the United States has kept its secular constitution as long as it has is a wonder. In any other circumstance, I might call it a miracle.

American secularism differs from, say, French secularism. In the U.S., secularism means that no sect gets a privileged legal position. As the Constitution puts it, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It also states, “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office.”