Along these lines, I like to say that a person's religion is really just the sum of all of their beliefs. And peoples' beliefs are what drive all of the other things they say and do (including how they vote and participate in public life).

So it's actually impossible to truly separate church from state in any meaningful way.

So what we need to focus on instead, is spreading a culture (i.e. a religion) that respects democratically observable evidence, and rejects any claims that come from a prophet or "sacred" text.

And to that end, your subtitle is spot on. Outspoken disagreement is not the same thing as persecution. And furthermore, a universally recognized expectation of giving and receiving logical criticism of each other's beliefs is perhaps the most important ingredient for a society that ever hopes to improve itself.