Traditiooooooooooooooon! Tradition!

Religion has been an important part of my whole life. My parents met in Israel as they attempted to make sense of the Baptist teachings they had been following in their pre-adult lives. My mother graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University, where her father was the headmaster, with a degree in Bible studies. My father was adopted by missionaries who raised their child in the only religious practice they had ever known. Both of my parents stopped going to church after the divorce until I dragged my mom back because I thought I would go to hell for sleeping in on Sunday.

My parents and I are the only people in my entire extended family who don't regularly attend church, and the split from the church life was a difficult one. It wasn't hard because of the theology - both of them had struggled to reconcile the differences between scripture and what they considered to be right. And it wasn't because of any actual pressure from family. It was so hard to leave because of the community that they were losing. After the divorce my mom and I lived for a whole month off of green-bean casserole brought to us by concerned members of the congregation. I still celebrate Easter with my cousins every year. And every December I listen intently as my grandfather reads his favorite sections of Luke, Matthew, Mark, and John. I no longer believe in the divinity of Christ or in the Virgin Birth, but there's something to be gained in the shared experience that religion gives. The power of community that religion holds is one of the reasons for the rise of the far right.

My grandparents visited last weekend. A few years ago they moved from their house in the picturesque mountains of Tennessee to the cul-de-sacs of a Christian retirement home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They've always been heavily involved in the Evangelical Christian community and it turns out that a good number of their friends have moved into the same retirement home. Lately the dinner talk has been all about catching up with old friends. Matthew Hooper is a pastor now in Florida and Saul McGuire has gone to Indonesia for a missionary trip and on, and on, and on. Everyone in their universe believes the same thing they do.

And everyone my cousins know goes to their megachurch, and my grandpa on my dad's side has stuck with his church because its his support group. For the believers I know religion is more than the beliefs outlined in their favorite book of the Bible. Its everyone they know and everywhere they go and almost everything they think about. This phenomenon is not limited to Christianity either. I have friends who are "culturally Jewish". I've attended the mitzvahs of people who don't believe in the Burning Bush or Noah's Ark.

So naturally as the internet and cable give us the choice to listen to our own opinion dressed in a suit the religious right has become just as polarized as the rest of the nation. Some of my relatives in Indiana think the idea of evolution is just as preposterous as most Friends students consider creationism. Religion is even more potent because along with it comes the baggage of the afterlife, morality, and the meaning of life.

A belief in a strict set of rules and the relative ignorance of any opposing viewpoint ends up stirring a great deal of people up. Just ask Australia.

Hamilton and Jefferson and that whole deal

The clash between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson is one that is bound to reenacted by humanity until some obscure ancient civilization correctly predicts the end of the world. Hamilton was the rich "London insider" who had experience in the financial sector and insisted that he was correct while Jefferson was an idealistic Renaissance man who, in the matter of principles, stood like a rock. The image of Jefferson is endlessly more appealing; he did, according to urban legend, invent the swivel chair.

And Hamilton struggled to connect with both his peers and the average American. He is often hailed as the father of Wall Street, which wouldn't exactly poll very well today. He often placed himself in the company of Tories and managed to eventually draw the ire of the American public despite his large contributions to the revolution. Burr was celebrated as a hero for killing Hamilton.

So how come we as a country bear a striking resemblance to the society Hamilton fought so fiercely to create? Hamilton wanted a strong federal government and a thriving financial sector while Jefferson preferred an agriculture-based economy supported by fiercely independent states. Today the federal government maintains a standing army and prints the money that is circulated, for the most part, by a stock exchange without even one ear of corn within 10 miles. Jefferson concluded that "a rich country cannot long be a free one". As of 2010 the United States had the largest GDP in the world; more than twice the second largest (China).

Hamilton's ideas won out in the end even though Jefferson is one of the most beloved figures in American history. You could say Jefferson was a dreamer but he certainly isn't the only one. One of the main ideas behind Rick Perry's campaign was that states should be the "laboratories" of the country, that no government can properly address the issues on a federal level, and... uhhh.... oops.

So who knows? Maybe one day we will see a Jeffersonian America. Until then his followers will have to settle for the nickel.