...and the pursuit of happiness?

The older I get the more interested I become in politics.  Perhaps it's because the issues become more real.  Maybe it's because I watch more news.  It could be that my friends and colleagues talk more about politics than my peers of 10 years ago.  Or maybe it's just that our country seems to be in such a horrible state that it's a feeling of urgency and extreme concern to do something to fix it.

In recent years there has been this movement of Evangelical Christians in America.  I first became aware of this groups magnitude in the 2004 presidential election in which these people came out of the wood work to vote for George W. Bush.  Several of these people make sweeping statements that have no truth or validity at all.  

Some examples:  "God created marriage."  "The founding fathers were all Christians."  

Anyone who knows anything about the history of our country knows that these are ridiculous statements.  However, anyone who doesn't agree with these statements and the ideas of the Evangelicals is immediately called anti-American and perhaps even deemed to hell (a topic for another day).  

Let me see if I have this correct.  So, if one is aware of the history of America,  if a person understands the events and people that led to the development of this great country and accepts these facts as truth...this person is a bad American?  But if someone manipulates the facts to fit into his or her ideology and throws any sense of true American and world history out the window....then that person is a true American?

This seems to be the logic that is being applied by many people in our country today.  I must say that I find it quite disturbing.

I know that there are a multitude of problems facing the United States.  I hope that in November the country will make a collective choice to begin the difficult task of getting back on a course in a better direction.  I was certain it was going to happen in November of 2004 - I should think that I don't have to say - we failed.