American Experiment, Democracy, Theocracy

Theocracy is Heterocratic, and, so, is antithetical to Democracy.  However, in the American Experiment, that relation is not so clear cut, since the U. S. Constitution protects the "free exercise" of Religion.  Accordingly, it is debatable whether or not a refusal, on Religious grounds, of one citizen to do routine business with another is a violation of the rights of the latter.  On the other hand, less equivocal examples of the subordination of America society to Theocratic principles include the assertion that the Ten Commandments is the highest law of the land, the observance of Christmas as a national holiday, and the belief that the Invisible Hand of the Market is an appendage of the deity worshipped by many Americans.  Those cases are evidence from the American Experiment of a susceptibility of Democracy to Theocracy.