Religion should be completely removed from policy formation and approval consideration. Facts should guide policy, not make believe.

The country was founded on hypocrisy. It is the thread that runs through almost every part of our Government and our society.

Yeah, unfortunately, a lot of what the U.S. does is based in religion. The support of Isreal is based in large part on the prphecy that Jesus will return once the Jewish temple is rebuilt. It does also give the U.S. a military pressence where we get a lto of our oil, but support of isreal as opposed o other ocuntries in the area was first created and then chosen for religious reasons.

It's very important if you follow one.
Yes.
Majority rules, regardless of the facts.

Religion should not be a factor at all in setting policy. And yes, the first amendmen guarantees freedom of religion (and for us, freedom FROM religion) and prohibits the govenment from recognizing any "official" religion . Sadly, the dominant religion in the US is X-tianity and alarmingly, they are now boldly pursuing a theocratic agenda. This scares the shit out of me. We are already seeing evidence of this in some areas where it is getting more and more difficult for a woman to have an abortion. Companies are invoking their religious beliefs on their employees (Hobby Lobby). Then there's Mike Pence. =\

Our government was intended to be secular. The church infiltrated it and now it seems if candidates aren't Catholic or Christians then they have little chance to win a seat. It is a coup whenever a secular individual gets elected. Once elected the indoctrinated seat warmers make laws that satisfy their religious needs. Not only are they religiously tainted, corporations have them in their pocket and they vote in their favor, too. This is the problem, now we need a solution.

Religion is used to subjugate women

It isn't "important" at all. However, the believers insist on forcing their influence in as many ways as possible.
This nation was founded on a number of principles. Freedom of religion was only one of them, and not even the most important.

America was not founded on religious freedom, but it was something that Jefferson insisted on in the Constitution, because he had seen what theocray and religious tyrants are capable of. Sadly, most Americans misunderstand the idea of seperation of church and state. Most religious people see it as negative thing. That the government hates religion and wants to keep it out of political arena (like the old Soviet Union). But Jefferson felt that the government had NO place telling people WHAT religion (or no religion) they had to follow! So now, we have louder and louder calls for a "national religion!" Christianity, of course. So the very thing that Jefferson feared is beginning to take hold. A theocracy, not unlike Islamic Shari Law. I call it #ChristianShariaLaw. And now we have a theocratic vice president sitting in the White House! If HE ever becomes president Jefferson's nightmare may very well come true, and people could be coerced into attending evangelical "Christian" church under penaly of LAW. And Trump's kowtowing to the extreme religious right (and white supremacists) isn't helping things, either. Scary times, indeed.

“As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression, In both instances there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air---however slight---lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.” – Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to the Young Lawyers Section of the Washington State Bar Association, September 10, 1976

Most people are christians (at least in the US) so there's christian privilege unfortunately--no matter what the law says.

Christians and Jews have all the money and the power so that's why they get to make all the rules.

Religion has no place in the making of policies. End of.

Well, it was founded on the religious freedom to be a Puritan. I think we can see from how well we got along with the indigenious people how religious 'freedom' was going to turn out...though, with that as a foundation, we have improved...we have this site and we aren't burned as witches...we got that going for us...haha