One of the main arguments used to forward the idea that religion should be separated from government is the protection of the freedom of religion for minority religious populations in Egypt. Among them, Coptic Christians, Shia and Sufis as well as the accommodation of the many schools of jurisprudence of Islam. A diverse civil society must be able to protect the rights of all citizens. This is only one argument and not even the first argument for the issue of division of religion and government. Many believe that the call to separate religion from the government is only a call to reduce the role of Islam in Egypt and the Islamic identity of the Egyptian people. This is a fear that is unfounded. The majority of citizens in Egypt are Muslim. The strength of the faith and the long relationship of the majority of the people with their Islamic heritage remains unchanged, regardless of the governments that have existed. It will remain unchanged in a society where freedom of religion is protected and the people may practice their faith as they see fit. This fear is not surprising when a people have been living under an oppressive regime that used government power and money to control the mosque, the selection of Imams and to influence the message. If someone belonged to a religious group or made public religious sentiments that the government found threatening, the group could be attacked and the people put in prison for a very long time, often times tortured and killed. The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar recently announced that he would give back his salary provided by the government because corruption has spread within the institution. Other leaders staged a protest against the corruption born of government interference, payment of bonuses and other devices used to extort responses and control the Ulema. By these acts the Mubarek regime wished to control the conscience of the people, preventing them from voicing their concerns about the government and the leaders. Acts that are all too familiar in oppressive nations. What is surprising is that people who have experienced this repression and point to this corruption are so willing to consider the continuation of this same construction of religion and government. All with the apparent belief that this time it will be different. That may be the case today when the revolution has won the freedom of the people to participate in their own government as well as a voice to express their opinions. The question remains: What about tomorrow? The constitution of a nation is meant to guide the nation and protect citizens for a very long time. What is written today will be the law of the nation for centuries if it can stand. After the experiences of the last decades, honest men and women may step forward with the best of intentions not to abuse this power. That may not be the case in the future. The people of Egypt have witnessed the rise of alleged "reformers" who have transitioned into dictators. All dictators share the same style of operations. They will use what powers they can achieve to oppress the people. They will interpret existing laws to benefit their own power and write new laws to strengthen this hold. In the past, this included adding Islam as the religion of Egypt to the constitution in order to curry favor with the people and to take control of the institution and the message. This might never happen again. The point is that the laws of the nation should defend against any opportunity for abuse of this power to arise. In this instance, to assure that the government cannot interfere in religion or the conscience of the people. The best method is to separate religion from government, insuring that these institutions remain separate structures without the power to directly influence or be directly influenced by each other. That is not to say that faith does not play a role in politics. Government cannot control the conscience of a man or woman. That conscience and accompanying morals are formed by the family, society and institutions of faith. Men and women carry these ideas with them into government helping to secure a more just government and insuring that the laws of a nation are equal to the conscience and morals of a free people. The second problem arises when the government takes on the covering of religion. By placing the government in the position of head of a religion or the force that propagates that religion, by fiat the government is dressed in religious protection. It is forbidden to blasphemy in religion against the sanctity of God and His Prophet. This is the conscience of a man and it is the responsibility of the religious leader to admonish and guide the believer. When government becomes the head of religion, the tendency to forbid insult or offense against the government begins. Blasphemy against the government becomes equal with blasphemy against God as the government represents the supreme head of religion. In this way, government can prevent the people from voicing their concerns about the government. Even the religious leaders can be stifled when the first problem arises that the government has the power to appoint religious leaders or force them to resign or pays their salaries making them dependent on the government. In this way, not only is the freedom of religion abrogated, but so is the freedom of speech. These restrictions, real or perceived, prevent the people from guiding government affairs, having their concerns addressed and resisting oppression by forcing them to silence under the cover of religious beliefs. Even when such lofty ideas as freedom of religion and the freedom of speech are enshrined in law. This means that the government can find legal and moral support for both ideas by implying that people are free to believe what they want and the government can guide their beliefs. That has been the problem of Egypt for decades and is the problem of many oppressive states where the government controls religion and religious institutions. In order for true freedom of religion and the freedom of speech to exist, religion must be free of the government and the government must be free of religion. In order for a true and just government to exist, religious establishments must be free to guide the conscience of the believers who will take these morals with them into government. In order for the government to be a just government, it must protect the rights of all of the people in all of their forms. The separation of religion and government is the only way to protect religion and the rights of the people against the abuse of the power of the government.
