Why religion is always public

Whatever we think about the controversies over same sex marriage, or the Obamacare contraception mandate, or [insert your chosen fight du jour], one lesson stands out: faith cannot be shoved into a corner.
For all of its private aspects, religion is a public affair. Whether a person considers himself a cultural warrior or just a humble and faithful adherent, there are always social implications to belief.
Those implications are first evident in small matters of individual behavior. Honesty with one’s neighbors and respect for their life and property are, for instance, social aspects of following the Ten Commandments. But the same basic fact applies in larger political contexts as well.

http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/joeljmiller/religion-is-always-public/