I think the battle lines have been drawn sometimes back.  We have an avowed Faith-Based, born again Christian President and a huge part of the eastern world is run by fanatical theocrats.  That the test for Presidential credentials has become adherence to “Faith” principles is undeniable.  That this is not good is crystal clear to many others.  These believe that the crafters of the Constitution who themselves were not locked into a “Faith” to the exclusion of all others, wanted to separate “Church” and “State” to avoid the conflicts that beset Europe following the Reformation. 

It was pointed out in today’s NYTimes that the Cathedrals, hallmarks of the faith based Monarchies in Europe, are empty today.  The driving force of belief is no longer the mark of distinction between political rivals in that part of the world.  In fact, Europe may be seen as a buffer between the faith-based presidential candidates in America and the fanatical theocracies in the Muslim world.  We have a great deal of preparation to go through before this struggle begins to strangle whatever rational belief is left from the great days of European Enlightenment.

Mormonism, despite the protestations we hear, is not mainstream Christianity.  We had problems enough when Catholicism was the main enemy of Protestants who became the backbone of American system of belief.  The Protestant cause was to prevent religion and government to become one and the same thing.  Your belief was a private matter and had no business interfering with the business of government.  For a short time we had a Catholic President who made it clear that his religion was a private matter and would not interfere with how he held the reigns of government.  Since his time, the “Faith Business” has become big business and we have witnessed the growth of Protestant churches into Mega Churches that rival (not in the architectural sense) the huge Cathedrals in old European centers of civilization.  There is no real comparison between the two. One is in decline and the other is in ascendancy.

This does not bode well for American democracy which has stumbled badly and has fallen down on hard times.  And, there are many who want to help it get up and get busy again being the leader of rational thought and practice. The Bush vetoes of bills that would help children and save Social Security are a sign of how bad things really are.  Business is the new GOD and its high priests are faith based.