However tempting it may sound to legitimate a political regime with religious beliefs, it’s a dangerous trap, say experts.
That may be especially true in places like Egypt, where normal political discourse has long been suppressed. Egypt will face debate when it rewrites its constitution on whether the second article, which names the religion of the state and Islamic law as the source of all legislation, will remain.
The best solution, they say, is a secular state that defends freedom of conscience but keeps overt expressions of religion out of the political arena. Separation of church and state “is the only modern mainstream approach,” and it’s worked in the US and all democratic European states, says Mikhail Krasnov, chair of constitutional law at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.
