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I draw a bright line of distinction between America's collective concern over our common morality, as opposed to our spiritual life. The two are definitely not one and the same. Morality concerns itself with how we conduct ourselves in a civilized society; religion has decidedly deeper and far more personal implications for the average American. No reasonable person would disagree with the idea that America is adrift, so far as its moral compass is concerned, and that should trouble us all. I think it far easier to address our shared moral values as a country than it is to introduce a religious component into the mix, and make an attempt to perhaps legislate as we assume God would see fit. In that case, we quickly approach the rocky shoals of church-state conflict that our founders thoughtfully attempted to avoid.
This is what I find problematic whenever I hear the term "our judeo-christian heritage" invoked, because I'm never quite sure what exactly is implied in the term. Does it mean that someone who is not of "judeo-christian" extraction is somehow a lesser American?
I see an inherent tone of exceptionalism in the term, which by my reading of the Constitution has no real basis in fact. Our founders stressed first and foremost our right to pray and worship as we choose, and by living out that creed to its logical end, I have never seen the utility in stressing our "judeo-christian heritage" unless it is to be used as some thinly-veiled reminder to others of christians' numerical superiority and resultant political clout. In that context, it tends to lose its tone of high-mindedness, frankly.
I have never seen the utility in stressing our "judeo-christian heritage" unless it is to be used as some thinly-veiled reminder to others of christians' numerical superiority and resultant political clout. In that context, it tends to lose its tone of high-mindedness, frankly.
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