“America, it turns out , is not one nation under one God.  We answer, in actuality, to four Gods.  In an intriguing new survey by Gallop for Baylor University, Americans were asked how they conceived of the deity.  The most popular God, backed by 31%, is an “authoritarian” father figure who takes a very hands-on approach to his domain. Like Yaweh in the Old Testament, he rewards the faithful with good fortune, and smites the sinful with tsunamis, terrorist attacks and dread diseases.  Another 23% envision God as essentially “benevolent” – a loving spirit who provides help and guidance when asked.   For 16% God presides over the universe like a taciturn judge, letting events unfold without interference, tallying up sins and virtues and rendering a verdict when people die.  Finally 24% see God as a mysterious prime mover who engineered the Big Bang and evolution, wrote E=mc² and all those other nifty cosmic laws, then backed off to watch how it all would come out.”

William Falk goes on to point out the obvious fact that it is the supporters of the stern, unbending, vengeful god that support thrusting “Christian values “ upon everyone else, who want to outlaw abortion, gay marriage, execute criminals and wage war in Iraq.  To them politics is a holy war.

Courtesy of William Falk, Editor of the US edition of The Week  magazine