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(I didn't read any responses yet, just offering up my unpolluted opinion)
<i>1. would you identify yourself more as a conservative Christian or a secular humanist?</i>
Secular humanist. I've proclaimed myself an atheist since I was about 10, although these days I'm more interested in the philosophy of Zen and Taoism (as opposed to the Religion of Zen or Taoism, which is a different thing entirely).
<i>2b. If you are a secular humanist, what are you afraid would happen to society if religion were allowed to guide government and public policy?</i>
Religion, to me, is about blind faith and unswerving loyalty. Things like the legislation of the teaching of creationism in science classes in Kansas. The mormon belief until recently that blacks were marked by god as inferior, stuff like that. Science, also, is not always open to new beliefs, but the scientific philosophy of exploration and openness to new ideas is a beautiful system. Organized religion is a system of repression and control through guilt and peer pressure. Anyone doing an unemotional analysis of religion should be able to see that easily.
<i>3. What qualities do you think identify a "successful" society? (I think we probably have a lot in common here, we just disagree about the best way to achieve these aims.)</i>
It's important to realize that physical and economic domination is part of being a successful society. You can be the most intellectual people in the world and still get beaten by your enemies, just ask the Greeks. So "society" as an organism isn't always in line with the needs of the people. Totalitarianism has been a successful societal structure many times throughout history.
I most admire the founding fathers. People like Jefferson, Franklin, Emerson, Tom Paine, Thoreau. These guys had their faults, but they had a fundamental vision of a society Of the people, By the people, and For the people. Making those three ideas apply to as many people as possible is my idea of a perfect society.
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