"Scholars, take care with your words!"

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot warns the chachamim to take care to monitor the words that they speak. The reason given is that the scholars have an enormous responsibility to ensure that their words and teachings are understood properly, that they should not be taken out of context. This, according to the Mishnah leads to eventual exile. I think that this is a lesson we can all apply to our daily lives and discussions. We have to make sure that we use the proper terminology, otherwise we may not be understood in the way we had originally intended.
In the realm of politics (of course) one such example is the separation of religion and state. The differentiation must be made between Arab and secular calls for separation of religion and state in Israel. We must understand that the dry, simple meaning of the concept refers to a complete and utter detachment of all religion from the state. In the case of Israel, this would mean the discontinuation of the "Jewish State" as we know of today, where most (if not all) of our national symbols are based upon the Jewish tradition. Even many of our laws are based upon Jewish law. As you can imagine, this is the type of state that many Israeli Arabs call for; a state for all of its citizens. The concept that is most commonly intended when discussing the separation of religion and state, especially in Israel, is the struggle between the religious and the secular. When those from Meretz and others like them call for separation of religion and state, they have absolutely no intention to negate Israel's Judaism! They only want to remove the power of the religious institution, that they not be coerced to get married and divorced according to specific religious regulations etc. that do not particularly have any meaning for them.
As we have seen, we must be careful when using certain terminology, that everyone knows what we are referring to. Keep in mind that when discussing the separation of religion and state in Israel, most often the reference in only to institutionalized religion as it exists today, and not to the absolute disconnection between religion and state. If you partake in such a discussion, perhaps clarify in a sentence or two to what exactly you are referring.
As a side point, its interesting to note that there are even modern religious philosophers that make claims in support of separating religion and state in Israel, something which seems to contradict our entire concept of religious zionism as normally viewed by Rav Kook and others.
Have a good night.
Ayal