Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
Actually, if we are going to go with my religious background, then I will be happy to oblige. I am a Catholic, and I can tell you this:
America has very little in common with the historic values of my faith
-Except for the early development of English Common Law, no where else on Earth can the Catholic Church be seen to have promoted democracy or limited government, or constitutionalism.
-America was founded largely by people who were virulently anti-Catholic.
-Even my hero, John Adams, was strongly prejudiced growing up and I got to read some very juicy writings of his. He later came to view Catholicism with warm regards and even attended Masses in Pennsylvania, the only place aside from Rhode Island where it was tolerated.
-The only semi-prominent Founding Father who was Catholic was John Carroll.
-Most ethnic minorities in America were historically targeted for coming from Catholic countries (Irish, Slavs, Germans, etc.).
Historically, Catholics came to this country, and then proceeded to attack its principles by voting Democrat. It has always been fiscally liberal because the tyranny of government is viewed in Catholic circles as compassionate and charitable.
As a fully assimilated Catholic/European who has no recollection of persecution, I have come to believe in the values of the American experiment, but it is in spite of what the Church has usually done in this country, which is to blindly follow liberals in destroying this country and its principles. My concept of 1/4 is the idea that anything more than 25% is clearly punative, and therefore against the right of property.
That's true about the anti-catholic sentiment in the US. There was never a large Catholic population in this nation till the Irish immigration during the potato famine occurred. The church's heirarchy is also pretty much opposed to freedom of religion too. That and Democracy are something that they have had to accept in modern times but have never promoted.
But also keep in mind. In our early years this nation was populated, from a religious standpoint, by immigrants who were extremely devout (the Puritans for example) and those who wished to escape religion period. Most of our founding fathers were either Unitarians or Deist and when they formulated our Government they were adamant that in no way shape or form that it be based upon the Christian Religion. Those in the RR who this our nations Government was based upon Christian principle just simply don't know their history.
The point being, however, is that there has always been this strange dichotomy in our nation between the relgiously fervent or fundamentalist and those who wish to be free from religion. Oddly enough, there's no place in the world with the healthy diversity of religion as there is in this nation and it's all due to tolerance and a secular government that will not nor cannot recognize the establishment of an official religion.