This is a good quote relating to an area I think about periodically. The idea of a public versus a private faith. There is a false dichotomy that has developed that for a very long time has separated faith from the public sphere and moved it into the "less powerful" realm of the living room.
This dichotomy has worked its way into the way people think so that there is a very schizophrenic faith life in our country that presents people as faithful in safe places like church and home but completely faithless at work or in the public sphere.
Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Catholic martyr, in Robert Bolt’s 1960 play A Man For All Seasons says:
"I believe that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience
for the sake of their public duties they lead their country by a short route to chaos."
I hauled this from an interview in the National Post with Canadian MP and Brethren Rev. Harold Albrecht. I would add to this statement not just statesmen but parents, teachers, police officers, etc.
Harnessing Chaos 
I think there\’s a vast difference between voting your conscience, and voting your conscience, if you get my meaning. Those in the public sphere (including myself as a public servant) have a duty to carry out the wishes of the public, rather than their own private beliefs.A wise man once said, "The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation." I think this can be applied to many (though not all) things. While our politics need to be guided by morality, they do not need to be guided by religion – there\’s a difference.And, ultimately, an MP needs to be able to vote as his constituents want him to (which they rarely have the ability to do, sadly).
LikeLike