10 Secularism is one of the most important achievements of Western democracies. Separating the state and laws from religious beliefs is a fundamental step forward in guaranteeing civil liberties (including freedom of worship) and ensuring internal cohesion and the pluralistic and convivial nature of democratic societies. Governance mixed with religion tends to generate authoritarian or outright totalitarian policies, which amounts to criminal governments. A theocratic state like Iran massacres its population under the direct orders of its clerics, who do not hesitate to label citizens as terrorists deserving of execution. A democracy like Israel, led by ultra-religious and far-right leaders, becomes a corrupt power machine, capable of perpetrating the countless crimes of the Gaza genocide (which, incidentally, continues, even though the media has shifted its focus). The current aspiring global dictator, the delusional Trump, and his shadowy lieutenants (Rubio, Vance, Sedgeth) often invoke God and declare themselves divinely called to a transcendent mission, to justify what are nothing more than abuses of power committed by a gang of thieves who, unfortunately, have access. One of their first victims, another dictator, Maduro, acted similarly, but on a domestic Venezuelan level.

]]>