Ardent proponents of religious thinking appear to be convinced that their way is the only way. Mormons, Catholics, Orthodox Jews, and most Evangelical Christians, consider the only marriage that is moral and correct is that between one man and one woman. Islam permits polygamy—more accurately, polygyny—but not same-sex marriage. Religious and nonreligious gay people take an equally ardent opposing view, and a several decade’s long legal contest is underway to determine what the final definition of marriage shall be. Mormons spent forty years of brilliant legal maneuvering in support of polygyny only to lose the legal contest in the end.

The issue of who speaks for religion or a religion is a crucial issue for Hindus in India and in the rest of the world where Hindus live in any numbers. In an article by Stephen Prothero in USA Today, recently [Who Can Write About Hinduism?] described a cultural war going on of which most Christians are unaware. A Sanskrit scholar, Wendy Doniger, was egged by protestors when she attempted to lecture in Chicago on the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, because she was not a Hindu. Ten years later, Doniger’s publisher caved into pressure from fundamentalist Hindus and withdrew the scholar’s book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, from Hindu bookstores and agreed to turn remaining copies into pulp. The same Hindu organization which succeeded in suppressing Dr. Doniger’s opinions—Shiksha Bachao Andolan—opposes sex education in schools and its own Hinduvta interpretation of Indian history, which is a nonevidence based religious construction. Doniger suggested that Hinduism should be regarded as “a polyphonic symphony;” but the winners in the religious struggle insist that the religion has only one note to be played over and over endlessly; and that note is the one played by the Shiksha Bachao Andolan.

It is hardly necessary to point out that there are multiple sects within Islam, or that the two principle ones—the Sunnis and the Shiites—are at loggerheads with each other. For over a millennium, the two factions–which to the uninitiated—share the same beliefs coming from their prophet, Muhammad. Nothing could be further from the truth. The two sides on the question of who speaks for Islam have been locked in murderous fratricidal warfare since the schism took place in the early years of the development of Islam.

Catholics and Protestants each speak for Christianity, and each of them has the only true and accurate approach. They condemn each other to purgatory because of their differing traditions and interpretations, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in Christianity’s fratricidal struggles. They share at least one mutual belief: Mormonism—which has a different approach and view of tradition—is nothing more than a cult. It would appear that the Catholics of Poland have a different view of what constitutes the true church from those of Canada. A Baptist church on one corner of an American town believes that the United Methodists down the block are heretics. Each of them speaks for Christianity and as spokesmen, are speaking as people belonging to the only true church.

There is a reason that the genius of the founding fathers of the United States of America decided to inculcate in the governing documents of our nation the concept of the separation of church and state. All of the religions mentioned above are firmly convinced that their moral absolute should be a moral imperative requiring lawful obedience by every other citizen in our pluralistic society. Every religion is of the opinion that every other religion is weird and wrong, and cherishes the idea that its concepts should determine the nation’s behavior. It is obvious—both by simple logic and by even a cursory examination of history—that a government that attempts to allow such absolutism cannot long stand. Who speaks for religion? Answer: Every religion. We have the noble concept of freedom of speech. However, We the People, are not going to allow intensely held religious opinions that differ from other intensely held opinions, to dominate. Let us each speak for our own religion or lack of it and leave other people alone.