I've been reading this thread with interest before chiming in. I thought this dilema was primarily and american one, interesting to see how universal it is. Here the relgious argument in drenched in interpretation of our constitution. Lately it seems that some are interpretting the clause that specifics that government cannot endorse any religion, to mean that government cannot tolerate, recognize or cooperate with any particular religion, even if any such consideration is devoid of any favoritism. So, now cities can't even allow Christmas decorations, or hold Christamas activities, even if they were to open up publicly supported events ot other religions. There are some huge complex cases pending.
Personally, I think the whole thing is out of control. People have lost the sense of resonableness. It's reasonable for the law to protect against government endorsing mine and only my religion. But it's not reasonable for government to pretend religion doesn't exist. Government, in whatever form, is a collection of people and must reflect something of the history of those people. Same with race, sure I live in a white dominated society and plenty of have been or are being discriminated against and that's wrong, but just because one belongs to a minority doesn't mean you get everything your way. Life is inherently not fair. We can never make up for the wrongs of the past, we can only work to make the future better, try to treat each other fairly, embrace others cultures, backgrounds and beliefs and try to get along, in short, be reasonable.