America's cultural crisis has both material and spiritual causes. Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally in our capital city was an attempt to address both the material and spiritual issues at, what is essentially, a political level.
Can spiritual problems be addressed at a political level? The brief reply is, "Probably not." In the long run, Beck's approach, as noble as his intentions are, is likely to precipitate more -- not less -- divisiveness in the conservative effort to achieve a united front.
Our Founding Fathers were skeptical about merging politics and religion. They were not far removed from a culture whose politics were based on "the divine right of kings." And they were intent on establishing a polity that left no room for a continuing, and incestuous, marriage of politics and religion.
The Founders wanted to severely limit the role of the central state and preempt a state religion. In fact, their intention was to use long standing religious factions to help maintain a limited government by pitting these camps against each other. The Founders were not for interdenominational understanding; they favored religious rivalry.
