Post elections

It seems silly to not acknowledge that the elections happened, so by now I've recovered enough to say something. I wanted to refrain from making negative comments. I think negative comments that pigeonhole religious conservatives are not helpful in understanding what has happened for many people in this country, and it certainly doesn't help engage others. I certainly don't understand where the majority of Bush voters are coming from, but shutting them out means I will never understand, and therefore it means losing out on the possibility of understanding how to work together.

The thing is, the idea that the United States was founded on religious ground is only partially true. Yes, it was founded by people who were hoping to escape religious persecution, people who were strict observers, only of a religion that didn't work in Europe.

That is why religious tolerance and separation of church and state and plurality became important. In practice, it was extraordinarily hard to be plural when you were prosecuted for not following your towns religious codes. So, it was made apparent that at least in federal government (not local), religion was given a second priority, with the understanding that everyone in their private space would observe their own religion.

It was understood that people were religious in some way. Well, not all the founding fathers, but there certainly was societal pressure from communities. America is a deeply religious country, but its government was structured not to allow those deep religious beliefs get in the way of how the country was run, because now, as it was true back then, religious is a personal commitment.