>Europeans are not necessarily anti-religion. Instead, religion, which
>in Europe was traditionally a universalist force, lost its universalist
>appeal to more secular social forces that includes, inter alia,
>socialism, democracy, and more recently -enviornmentalism. But what we
>see in the US religiosity is not an antiquated ideological affirmation
>of universal values - but the exact opposition of it - an
>anti-universalist fascist ideology promoting clan-based loyalty and
>exclusion.
I think you have a good point here, but two reservations: 1) the U.S. constitution is supposed to be our national unifying object, much to Dan Lazare's distress, and 2) there *are* Americans who use religion in a universal way - e.g. all those nuns who camp out at the School for the Americas, so don't cede a monpoly to the hardcore thumpers.
Doug