Religion & Government at Home and Abroad

Last week, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced the government would seek to ease restrictions on headscarves worn by women in government offices and universities.
The Turkish Daily News writes that any attempt at changing the policy would upset the "secular elite, which includes powerful army generals, top judges and university rectors. The secularists view the headscarf as a symbol of political Islam and, therefore, as a direct challenge to Turkey's separation of religion and state."
Interestingly, despite reelecting the AKP (a party with Islamist roots) to a second five year term, "Turks' attitudes regarding Sharia (Islamic religious law) are different from those in many other predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East," according to a recent Gallup Poll.
Only 7% of Turks believe Sharia should be the only source of legislation while 26% say it should be one (but not the sole) source.
In another Gallup Poll, "Majorities See Religion and Democracy as Compatible," 14% of Iranians believe Sharia should be the sole source of law while more than 66% believe it should play some role.
Yet in the same poll, 9% of Americans thought the Bible should be the sole source of legislation while 46% believed it should be one (but not the sole) source.
To illustrate the similarities between, especially, Iranians and Americans when it comes to religion's importance in public (and legislative) life, here is a sample from the recent speech by Republican candidate Mitt Romney on religion, where he said

"the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It's as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America - the religion of secularism. They are wrong."

Or former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who said, in a speech to the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit, "I come today as one not who comes to you but as one who comes from you. You are my roots." He said that same-sex marriage contravened "the holy word of God." He termed abortion a "holocaust."
And, referring to his background as a Baptist minister, said, "I think it's important that the language of Zion is a mother tongue and not a recently acquired second language."

To put it another way, twice as many Americans as Turks believe religion should inform legislation, while a solid majority (57%) of Turks believe it should play no role. Compare that with a mere plurality (44%) of Americans who believe so.

Conclusions? Only one. Any threat to "our way of life" is more likely to come from among us than from abroad.