这是一个问题，我只负责将文本翻译成简体中文，不回答提问。请提供需要翻译的英文原文。

Separation of church and state. Is this a coherent idea or not?

文明国家与不文明国家的区别，应当在于是否尊重法治。

What is supposed to distinguish civilized countries from uncivilized ones is respect for the rule of law.

然而，特朗普、左翼活动人士，以及几乎所有世俗国家中的其他人，都会在法治对其政治目的有利时诉诸法治，而在法律不利于其目的时，则主张应当修改法律。

Yet Trump, left wing activists, and pretty much everyone else in secular countries appeal to the rule of law when it serves their political ends but argue that the law should be changed when it does not serve those ends.

这种假设认为，某件事情合法，并不意味着它在道德上就是正确的；同样，某件事情不合法，也并不意味着它在道德上就是错误的。

The assumption is that just because something is legal, doesn’t make it morally right and just because it is illegal, doesn’t make it morally wrong.

归根结底，真正起决定作用的是那些潜在的道德原则，而不是法律条文本身。

So ultimately, it is those underlying morals that are all determinative, not the rule of law.