Why not more of us in Congress?

[Angrboda]

It's known that there are pastors and priests who are atheists, but because the pulpit is their whole life, and they're not trained for anything else, they remain in the closet. The honesty and integrity sword cuts both ways, and when you demand it of the non-religious but not the religious, you sound rather hypocritical. If leaders in your own religious community are afraid to come clean for fear of reprisal from their own, its rather simplistic of you to demand the courage from mere politicians that leaders in Christ aren't able to muster.

Politics is a job, not a mission or a religious calling. The politician has one job: making his or her constituency happy. And its to the constituency that they are accountable. If they don't care enough to demand he share that detail with them, or not vote for him if he or she doesn't, that's their business. That's for them to decide, not anyone else, certainly not some narrow-minded religious zealot (no matter how many of them there are). This country was founded on principles intended to foster plurality, plurality of voices, plurality of religions, plurality of lifestyle; encouraging the passage of laws that would have a chilling effect on diversity and liberty is not only unwise, on utilitarian grounds, it's downright unAmerican.

Yes, this country is screwed up in many ways. I'm still very proud of her. America was the source of many good things and good ideas. Unfortunately, a large segment of the population are persuaded of the opinion that America has cornered the market on good ideas and good things, and that the rest of the world has simply to wait upon her to benefit them with her largesse. I would call that a religion of sorts, call it Americanism or something else, it's one of the bad things about America. It certainly has historical causes and precedents, from the early doctrine of Manifest destiny to our success in two world wars to a feeling of resentment and fear upon seeing America becoming just another peer among equals. However, I think this religion, whatever you want to call it, is a bad thing, for both the world and America herself.

(I might start by using the term "U.S." instead of America, perhaps. But I'm a hopeless romantic, in love with my country, as well as willing to acknowledge her faults.)