[feoren]

> A liberal secular state must respect the will of its citizenry, whatever it is

No. A tolerant, secular, liberal state should not respect the will of its people if the will of (the majority of) its people is to become an intolerant, religious, oppressive state. It is OK -- possibly even necessary -- to have a set of core founding principals which must never be abandoned.

[mkoubaa]

If you're saying that core founding principles were so important then you must feel that slavery shouldn't have been abolished, no?

[ffgjgf1]

Slavery was a “state rights” issue from the beginning. In what way was it part of the core founding principles of the US?

Also having “core founding principles” doesn’t mean that they are valid or that you got them right from the beginning.