Some Reflections on "Civil Religion"

This opinion piece contains one journalist's reflections on a recent journalists' conference in Los Angeles, called "Religion, Politics and Public Policy: From the White House to the School House." The author uses the new Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels as a starting point for reflections about "civil religion." Here's the conclusion:

But if churches are to be the place where "civil religion" is practiced -- an alternative that church-state separationists would prefer to religious observances on government property -- how inclusive can such celebrations be? It is one thing for a Christian cathedral to declare that it is a house of prayer for all people, but is it also a house where people who don't pray -- atheists and agnostics -- can comfortably gather to commemorate victims of terrorism or a former national leader? Ultimately it may be impossible to take the "religion" out of "civil religion."

Rick