Wrong. It is and has been a driving force in this country. Even today the fact that the left rails against the right for Using god to advance their agenda shows that God is alive and well on Planet America.

Right or wrong is not relevant to my discussion. I simply am pointing out the facts. Despite the fact that you choose to not agree with my conclusion does not alter the fact that GOD today, yesterday and during the founding of this nation was a Major driving force in which way we have gone and how we have gotten there.

Well, not for everyone, but religion has been a strong force throughout America's history.

The argument here is not about the presence or absence of God in American life. It is about who gets to be God's mouthpiece.

In addition to being inspired by God, people also have the gift of free will. That means the people, each person, is responsible for how he applies that inspiration in his personal and political life. Hiding behind 'God's will' is shirking personal responsibility and blaming God for one's own errors of judgment.

It's a current obsession to describe everything as a Right vs. Left issue. In reality, however, there are no armies of people divided strictly along a L-R boundary line on the God issue. I suspect those who see it like that, just want to have an another excuse for denigrating political opponents, and I find it disturbing when God is used like a political shotgun.

Evangelicals have much more in common with each othher than the extent of their divisions according to what God inspires them to do. Yet, they don't agree on environmentalism, homosexuality, the role of religion in politics and a host of other issues.
The Episcopalian Church is divided about female ministers and homosexuality, as well. There are even mini rebellions in that staid old lady, the Catholic Church.
Not every Catholic bows to the authority of the Pope on every questoon.

These are all signs of recognition that personal responsibility is involved in what we hear God say. It's that recognition that leads many to believe that It's not right to make God choose sides in elections or debates. It is, after all, people exercising their free will who participate in elections, policy debates and civic life.

That is not the same as making God inaccessible in private or public life.
It is making God inaccessible as the umpire in team sports or political contests
It is about having people take responsibility for their own choices..

They're guaranteed it anyway once in a while if the Dems go too far to the left or otherwise mess things up too much. But that isn't what you're talking about, of course.

Unfortunately, the GOP needs to become more libertarian and respectful of constitutional federalism to offer something really refreshing and attractive to the learned, but this flies in the face of ever-growing entitlements and other benefits from Washington that buy ever-larger vote totals, while Washington (which loves power) continues to get larger and ever more interventionist. I have no confidence in a revived GOP. It likely will range from just the Opposition to Dems Lite as “needed.”

Very religious voters are often easily manipulated. The religious right lent their support to the GOP in the belief that they would best advance their agenda. But in doing so the GOP has attempted to encroach on the rights of the rest of us, and a series of moral scandals revealed that their representatives are no better than the lowest of sinners, which has led to the inevitable backlash. Thus the need for Republicans to regroup and figure out what they stand for. The GOP has used the religious right by grandstanding on wedge issues like gay marriage, abortion and flag burning–usually right before a key election. They are finding out that this strategy is no longer a path to electoral success.

In relation to this article your parents were so adamantly opposed to Gays that the gay lifestyle was in the closet. I of course am using your parents in a generic sense.

only God seems to be saying different things to different people.

Are you sure runasim? God seems to be talking to the right and has abandoned the left. I rarely if ever hear the left talking about what god is saying. Or that god is in favor of Gay rights. Abortion. Gun control.

God has always been the driving force of this nation. For democrats and republicans alike. Always. It has only been in the last few decades that the movement to bring about change has decided that those opposed to their agenda is the enemy. Rather they be left or right.

Instead of Opponents they are the ENEMY. For the left God has become the enemy because the Right leans on God and points to God as their reason for being right. This has in effect alienated a large amount of people who do not like seeing god as a ping pong ball in a game of humanistic Political jockeying. And when I say alienated a lot of people I mean on both the Right and the left.

I'm especially revolted when God, poor God, gets drageed into these fights as the final arbiter. It's amazing how many people hear what God has to say on these contentious matters, only God seems to be saying different things to different people.