I was trying to find something that is important or prevalent in every culture, then it hit me: Religion. It is a center part of most cultures. It often, if not always, determines the social and cultural norms in a society. It defines how a country is governed. In the middle east, there are countries that are actually governed by spiritual leaders. During the middle ages, most of Europe was controlled by the Pope, whether directly or indirectly. Even today there is evidence that religion plays a role in governments throughout the world.

The US has strong religious ties to its past. Our pledge of allegiance includes the phrase "one nation under god." Our currency has the phrase "In god we trust" printed on it. My questions for class discussion is:
1) If the US was founded by people who believed in a different religion (not protestant) how different do you think the country would be today?

2) If the US continues on the path of "removing god" from the government (such as banning school prayers, removing the 10 commandments from courthouses, etc), do you think this will have a positive or negative effect on the country?