C.S. Lewis made an eloquent point in a short story entitled, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." The story featured a demon that had the job of overseeing the work of lesser demons, whose job it was to tempt mortals to Satan. The demon, Screwtape, is addressing the graduating class of the Tempters Training College, speaking on the fall of democratic societies.

Nowadays, "American" has become synonymous with "Democratic." And democracy, in the purely political sense, is a beautiful thing--the highest form of government man has yet created. But when you extend the meaning of "American" or "democratic" to mean something other than politically equal, you corrupt the word and doom the nation. The Radical Right has made the word "American" mean "my type of American." If you don't accept the country's line on everything, you're not American. If you don't support torture, you're not American. If you don't believe in God, you're not American. When they do this, they miss the real point of democracy.

Before I continue, I would like to mention three things. I take second to NOBODY in my love for this country; we are the greatest country the world has ever seen and I am proud to call myself an American citizen. I believe in the War on Terror and that we should do whatever is necessary to stop the murder of our citizens. And I also am a deeply devoted Christian, planning to attend seminary and hopefully to go to Oxford Divinity School.

But.

America's true beauty lies in the fact that we force nothing upon the citizenry--no one "right" worldview. When the Radical Right hijacks the word "American" and imparts on it their worldview, they use it as a cudgel to bash anyone with an opinion that differs from theirs. Eventually, laws are passed curtailing these "un-American" worldviews, as seen in the attempts to pass the Gay Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which would effectively write bigotry into the greatest political document of all time. Over time, one word, American, could make our country better--or destroy it.

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Men of England, heirs of Glory,
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.

- Percy Shelley, "The Masque of Anarchy"