Shawn, you are correct: There are those on here who do "jump the gun" in defense of their own personal beliefs which they would have us all subscribe to. To promote their beliefs, they use the "holier than thou" approach: They know God; they know what God intends for us. Any of us who are not receptive are the bad guys.
I have long felt that it is not necessary for me to wear my heart...or my politics...or my religion on my sleeve. I need not stand and recite the Pledge to be a real patriot...nor sing the national anthem. Those who wish to do so have my sincere respect...as long as they do not claim superiority over me.
America has been moving toward multi-culturalism for years. We Americans are a tolerant people (except for those "holier than thous" that think they know what God wants. Hmmm....have they asked her?). If we did not want to arrive at this point, we should have torn down the Statue of Liberty years ago, and instead erected a "Welcome, Christians only" monument.
I am content to live and let live. The hard core right wing Christians are not! They are far from it. It has been the practice of Christians over time to kill all those whom they cannot convert. To read some of the responses here...nothing has changed.