Disestablishmentarianism?

Following the "council prayers" case (see post of 11th February) there have been claims that Christianity is "under attack".  Makes for a good headline, but somewhat hysterical I think, because if anything is under attack, it is not Christianity, but the concept of the Established Church.  Under our system, representatives of the Church of England - the bishops - are part of our law-making process.  They sit, speak and vote in the House of Lords, and they do this in their capacity as representing the views of the Anglican Church - which by the way is a far cry from any suggestion that they represent Christianity as a whole.  Secularism is a philosophy which says that church and state should be kept separate, and it is this principle which is under discussion.  There are various arguments, not least of which is that as we are now a de facto multicultural country, is it right that one set of religious views should take precedence in this way?  On the other hand, it is instructive to look at America, which does have a secular constitution, and yet religion plays a very significant part in politics, as witnessed by the current arguments in the battle for the Republican nomination for President.  So is it better to have religion inside the tent, as it were, rather than creating trouble outside?  This is a topic which I fear will run and run, and I may well have to come back to it.