What you said....only, for me, it boils down to the Constitution conservatives have been so fiercely proud and protective of...until they got the power to start changing it. This nation was founded by people who were primarily motivated by their need for religious tolerance, because their views differed from the then-extant majority's they fled. Even after a hundred and fifty years of increasing religious diversity as the country developed, they kept in mind the fact that their guiding motivation had been freedom to practice their religion(s) according to the dictates of their consicences, and underpinned the entire foundation of the country with their central desire for separation between church and state. Clearly, the majority of this country has now lost sight of that.

The talk of two Americas--or three?--that has arisen in the wake of this election: if taken to its logical conclusion, where is it taking us? For a couple of hundred years now, certainly dramatically in the past century, the rest of the "civilized" world has wondered at Ireland: How could citizens of Europe really be killing each other over religion? (how it started, at least; there were and are political, economic and rural vs.urban issues involved as well). They must be crazy, it was easy to suppose from our comfortable, largely tolerant diversity. Then slowly we began to get pro-life folks shooting doctors who performed abortions, and anti-semitic incidents, and a neo-Nazi movement, along with scattered militias and survivalists. More crazies, we thought. Then, from both sides, we got happenings like Oklahoma City's bombing and Ruby Ridge and Waco. Still isolated crazies. I don't for an instant mean to suggest that the conservative right is made up soley of such folks (some of, including my best, friends,are... ), but what I am trying to say is that, just as we are seeing within the Middle East, much of Southest Asia and now within our own country, we have a clash of world views, of perceptions of civilizations, if you will. What has been the outcome of such clashes? The most divisive conflict in our own history was a bit more than 125 years ago, and the wounds haven't entirely healed yet. While not aspiring to become Cassandra, I am asking that we all look at where we're heading and what we can do about it--because to use the politicians' rhetoric, this is a defining moment in our history, both as a country and within the increasingly interconnected context of the rest of the world. (Whew, a rant first thing in the morning..!.. on weekends I'm a night owl).