[caseinpoint]

So it’s basically a civil religion, with sermons on mountains, the death penalty, race relations and such? Did you ever see someone preach from a religious canon?

[CzarChasm]

yes and no - many stories, sayings, and parables from religious texts are used to illustrate secular points, but there is no official dogma

yet there are strongly-held common beliefs that approach dogma (abortion is ok, the death penalty is wrong, we honor soldiers but are against all wars "on principle", "social justice" is to be strived for yet no one will define it, etc.); just because it's not written down doesn't mean it's not dogma