Forced virtue is not virtue at all. And from a Jewish perspective, Christians are polytheists, and thus it is supremely ironic for you to insinuate that I am a pagan.
Anyway, if you care to familiarize yourself with the Bill of Rights, you might notice a prohibition on the establishment of religion by the government. So your opinion of the Founding Fathers' intent is 180 degrees off the mark; their intent was the precise opposite of what you state. America was intended to be a nation of secular laws for a religious people, not religious laws for a secular people. The reason for this is that they recognized, as you would be well to, that a virtue coerced is not a virtue at all.
"America was intended to be a nation of secular laws for a religious people, not religious laws for a secular people"
Right on! Religious laws for a secular people = the Taliban!
There's a consistent, disturbing thread among the politically active evangelical Christians. About 20 years ago, I heard Jerry Falwell state something to the effect that the religious right wanted to ramrod anti-abortion laws and then worry about teaching the philosophical and religious rationale behind it. He was unwilling to take the approach that I would expect a man of God to take; namely, preach the word, strengthen conscience and conviction, and then let people exercise their agency and franchise, trusting that all you could do was effective.
Ms. Harris, as classy as she is, apparently has that same worldview. It's a belief that secular laws can make people righteous. In principle, righteous people would need no laws or lawmakers. What laws made Abraham or Moses righteous? Ministers, in particular, should focus on making people better from the pulpit, in the streets, and in the homes of people. They don't need to be legislating righteousness.
As far as I'm concerned, once a minister forsakes the flock to chase a political agenda, that's a sign that his faith is weak. Instead of trusting in God and the power of his calling, he seeks to exploit the state's power instead. He chooses Mammon over God to accomplish his goals.
When Pharaoh wouldn't let Israel go, Moses didn't organize an opposition party and try to take over the government. He didn't have a political action committee, he didn't hold a fund-raiser, and he didn't run for office. He wisely left it in God's hands and his faith was answered.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, etc. are all cut from the same cloth. An observation: I've seen several ministers declare that they felt that God wanted them to pursue elective office to do his will. I never saw a one of them leave office, stating that God wanted them to forsake power and its perks to return to being an obscure, humble pastor.
Don't take it that I believe Christians and religious people should not be involved in the political process. I just believe that ministers have an obligation to a higher power than to the people. From that position, politics is a step down, not up.