a flawed State?

Rama, among the grandest of religious icons, unfortunately,
merely reduced to the biggest of all misused religio-political icons
in the contemporary Indian politics

I think about the ideology of any nation state being based solely on people belonging to a single religion (Pakistan being a Muslim nation; the RSS's 'noble' and 'pure' dream of the 'Hindu Rashtra', to name a neighboring few) as essentially flawed, as even though at an unconscious level, it looks very much rooted in religious intolerance, and as a natural byproduct fosters extremism too. It directly seems to imply that people from different religions worshiping different gods cannot coexist peacefully and be part of a composite society, even at this point of human civilization (from a historical prespective), and that, for a creation and sustainence of a peaceful and socially coherent political entity, people should essentially belong to the same religion worshiping the same gods (or, Gods, if you wish so) as used to happen millenniums ago...

This ideology is either prejudiced in its thinking that social bonds between people 'should' and can 'only' be based on 'religious-brotherhood' bonds (hmm! breeding ground for intolerance, leading to extremism there), or it underestimates the social cohesion between people based on the implicit racial bonding (of the homo sapiens race, I mean; each species is hard-wired similarly), or is a leftover remnant of the days when the Church used to have a supreme power over the State. Whatever may be the case, the growth of human civilization over times is gradually rendering this ideology, which may have been once the most important tool for political and societal cohesion, redundant in the current world scenario. Also, not to mention the threat this ideology poses to the current world peace and further 'growth' of the civilization, if peaceful coexistence and tolerance between varying world religious communities (and 'races' too, I must add) can be defined as one of the comparative yardsticks!

I won't go on commenting with certainty but I am beginning to notice that the roots of all 'religious extremism' based terrorism worldwide, can be traced back to the 'source' nations that are either a nonsecular state, or which politically implicitly endorse a specific religious body or creed. Correlation or causation?

What ever may be the case, all this is does goes into making me a very firm believer in the disestablishment process, marking a clear-cut separation of Church from the State, and the people having a freedom of religion, or freedom from religion altogether (if I may add so) as their fundamental right, as granted and fiercely protected by the state...

This major and important socio-political transition, of creation and sustenance of secular nation states (it seems most of which are also democratic!), with people shedding their inhibitions, being more tolerant to, respecting, and entrusting in people from 'other religions', may be a leap of faith for many, a natural progression for some, and quite a blasphemy for others, but, is here to stay for sure, and I hope, for the good!

P.S. This is just me thinking out loud on matters I wished I understood more. I am neither a student of political science or sociology and like subjects, and these are just my elementary level perceptions that I have acquired in a society I grew up, and watch. Consider these thoughts as my first steps towards an interest in the serious understanding and analysis of such socio-political or religious matters...