--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For democrats, it's as crucial to defend…" description: "\"For democrats, it's as crucial to defend secular culture as to preserve secular law. And in fact the two projects are inseparable: When religion define..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78b/ellen-willis-14968_church_for-democrats-it-s-as-crucial-to-defend_128976.png" --- # For democrats, it's as crucial to defend secular culture… ![“For democrats, it's as crucial to defend secular culture as to preserve secular law. And in fact the two projects are inseparable: When religion defines morality, the wall between church and state comes to be seen as immoral.” quote by Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78b/ellen-willis-14968_church_for-democrats-it-s-as-crucial-to-defend_128976.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78b/ellen-willis-14968_church_for-democrats-it-s-as-crucial-to-defend_128976.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78b/ellen-willis-14968_church_for-democrats-it-s-as-crucial-to-defend_128976.png) > “For democrats, it's as crucial to defend secular culture as to preserve secular law. And in fact the two projects are inseparable: When religion defines morality, the wall between church and state comes to be seen as immoral.” [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Secular culture and secular law must be defended together; mixing religion with morality makes the separation of church and state seem immoral. **In simple terms:** Defend both secular culture and law; mixing religion with morality blurs church-state separation. Key Takeaway Protect secular culture and law together. Themes politics secularism religion law morality Mood critical thoughtful Type political commentary When to use this quote - policy debates - public education - media commentary Key Concepts Secularism Civil rights Practical Applications - Advocate for clear secular policies - Separate moral foundations from religious doctrine Questions to Reflect On - How does religion influence law? - Can secular culture thrive without religion? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Church and state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church-and-state/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Democrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democrat/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) ## Related quotes > [My aim has always been to defend the secular foundation of our nation and the poor of our country - the creed sacred to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-gandhi/my-aim-has-always-been-to-defend-the-secular-foundation-of-our-nation/) [Sonia Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-gandhi/) > [“Church doctrine has no place in secular law. You can't take away people's rights to meet your own religious criteria.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-sexton/church-doctrine-has-no-place-in-secular-law-you-can-t-take-away/) [Marie Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-sexton/) > [People of faith should not invoke the power of the state to decide what everyone can believe or think or read or do. 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Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [The tunes, rhythms, and messages are drawn mainly from secular culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-morris/the-tunes-rhythms-and-messages-are-drawn-mainly-from-secular-culture/) [Richard Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-morris/) > [Escuela Caribe preyed upon parents' fears of secular culture to recruit students. Parents could send their kids to a place where they'd be sheltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-scheeres/escuela-caribe-preyed-upon-parents-fears-of-secular-culture-to/) [Julia Scheeres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-scheeres/) > [We are not relevant when we mirror secular culture. We are relevant when we are what they long to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/we-are-not-relevant-when-we-mirror-secular-culture-we-are-relevant/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## More by Ellen Willis > [You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to surmise that war has a perverse appeal for the human race, nor is the attraction limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/you-don-t-have-to-be-sigmund-freud-to-surmise-that-war-has-a-perverse/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [What turns me on is erotica; what turns you on is pornographic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/what-turns-me-on-is-erotica-what-turns-you-on-is-pornographic/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Some conservatives have expressed outrage that the views of professors are at odds with the views of students, as if ideas were entitled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/some-conservatives-have-expressed-outrage-that-the-views-of/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [For the most part, Americans speak of culture and politics as if they were two separate realms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/for-the-most-part-americans-speak-of-culture-and-politics-as-if-they/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Mass consumption, advertising, and mass art are a corporate Frankenstein; while they reinforce the system, they also undermine it. 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