by Jennifer Wheary

Denver Post

01/02/05

Oversimplification of American religious belief and practice is a brilliant political strategy. It polarizes our society and mobilizes extreme positions at either end of the political spectrum. While two opposing, irreconcilable viewpoints duke it out, real issues go unaddressed. ... American religious practice is less conservatively Christian and much more diverse than campaign slogans and sound bites suggest. In reality, no one party has a monopoly on religious believers, and the moral values the majority of Americans support have a lot more to do with fairness, equality, responsibility and dignity than the hot-button issues that dominated 2004...

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~158~2626916,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp