is fundamental to a democracy in a diverse society.
If the society is fairly homogeneous, then you'd really expect the "secular system" to primarily reflect that homogeneity. But it should be open enough to accommodate minority views.
However, saying that the institutions must be secular is an error. For much of the US' history, the primary institutions have not been secular. To say otherwise is to truncate much of the range of public opinion, and say that in a true democracy only some views and some participation counts, while other views and other forms of participation and other portions of civil society are to be ignored. Democratically, of course.
That kind of stricture denies the essence of democracy. It can be "representative" (in the sense that the demos votes for representatives), it can be proportional, it can be liberal, it can have limits put on it to limit majoritarian tendencies, it can be majoritarian without representatives mediating between law and the public. But it cannot simply say, "Some views are too dangerous to allow its adherents to be considered people." "We the people" is inclusive, however much some want it to exclude those they disapprove of as somehow being "non-people" because of their views or their assets. What's really needed is some sort of buy-in.
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