First I have stopped referring to Christians, Jews and Muslim as such, to me they are all followers of Abraham (the bible), they are in my opinion, are to be called Abrahamics. They follow the same plan, domination at all cost, their story ends the same, with the utter destruction of the planet and all mankind (end days). Abrahamism is a doomsday cult; theirs is a blood god that demands sacrifice. The main concern of Abrahamics is personal salvation of the immortal soul, not world peace or harmony.

There are many types of theologies out there, many concerned with more altruistic ideals. What of the theist who is not Abrahamic, the Deist, theocifer, Hindu, Native American Shaman and Buddhist. I would love to see some more Buddhist candidates, not actually theist more complicated than "big daddy", but main concern is the cessation of all suffering, compassion the highest ideal.

I have been wondering lately what it means to be an American, is it a matter of geography, or is it an ideal materialized in the constitution, a way to view all humanity, a set of ethics and ideals that when applied to society can foster pluralism and prosperity for all. What if we could stand bravely in defense of the rights of others even if we find their habits offense to our individual sensibilities, to protect the freedom we have by protecting the freedom of humanity to express itself. If we could see the glory and benefit of our diversity, we as a species can accomplish many wondrous things if we can ever embrace or interdependence. Imagine if we could view our diversity as an ever widening net to catch the bounty the universe has to offer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkBu-mqi-c

This is the old Warner Bros. cartoon "Old Glory," with a very cute Porky Pig trying to learn the American Pledge of Allegiance. However, the cartoon was made in 1939, fifteen years before "under God" was inserted into the wording.

@ terrence:

See what you can learn if you just keep an open mind?

I think he's so open-minded that his brain fell out.

Yep. I live in Texas. I've sometimes tried to imagine what would happen here is the Christians had their unrestrained way with the government. At first they'd all be giving each other high fives for their conquest. Oh sure, atheists, Satanists, and Muslims would be in trouble from the get-go. But who cares about them? After a while Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses would start feeling the heat. Mainline, "backslidden" denominations like the Methodists and Presbyterians would come next. Before long the Seventh Day Adventists would be blacklisted, followed quickly by the United Pentecostals and the Church of Christ. More "orthodox" Pentecostals like the Assemblies of God and Church of God would last longer, but would ultimately succumb before the awesome might of the Brobdingnagian Southern Baptists.

Then the Calvinistic and Arminian factions of the Southern Baptists would split from one another and fight until one gained the upper hand. I'm not real sure what would happen after that, but you can bet it wouldn't be pretty.

Sometimes, I really wish we could do a Survivor-type show where we ship these annoyingly religious freaks off to a little island (okay, so we'd unfortunately need a large island) and see what happens when one group gains ascendency and starts persecuting the others. I think they'd figure out in a hurry what the 1st Amendment was for, and why religon + government = really bad idea.