Can Religion Strengthen Democracy?

Is religion good for us? You could argue this is a foolish question. Most of us would regard a faith that promotes, say, love, compassion and justice differently from a belief system that encourages violence, intolerance and hatred. Debates over religion in the United States have been sharpened in recent years as large sections of the Christian right embraced Donald Trump, the antithesis of Christian values. The fusing of strains of religious conservatism with racism and nativism -- it's happened before in American history -- has pushed many away from faith altogether, particularly among the young.