Discourses of belief in the public space

Zoe Crossland, in her Violent Spaces: conflict over the reappearance of Argentina's disappeared, references the "nebulous"characterization of terrorism as defined by the military junta governing Argentina from 1976-83: "a terrorist is not only the person who carries a gun or plants bombs; he is also the person who spreads ideas contrary to Western and Christian civilization." (Crossland, p.117) The point of importance here is the use of "Christian" in this context: as a political entity, or rather as the ideological ground for political organization/construction. This is not a novel notion, yet it points towards the underlying, more fundamental question: what forms does religion/religious belief take when made visible and encountered in the public space? What contours/implications/affects does the discourse of belief take on when in the public space; that is, when belief crosses the boundary from a private space, an individualistic/personal discourse, into the the public space, taking the form of a collective (political?) discourse?