It's not the "Christian" label
that makes a person
or a community
truly Christian !

"Conservative Christians", who either reside in "the Bible Belt" or who are influenced by the kind of Christianity that came out of the Confederacy are fond of looking down their religious noses, at the rest of America.  In their view, America in our day is a cesspool of immorality, because it doesn't practice what they have declared to be Christian morality.  Not only is America failing to be the Christian nation it was meant to be, not only is it allowing people of every imaginable faith to be on a par with the one true faith, but atheists and agnostics are now invoking the U.S. Constitution to prevent Christians from imposing their majority faith on the minority that does not share their faith in public schools.  These true blue Christians (in their own minds) will not rest until the force of public legislation forces everybody to abide by their particular religious convictions that abortion is murder and homosexuality is an unnatural abomination.  If you want to undertand what makes these people tick, see LiberalsLikeChrist.Org/+Believable/BibleBeltChristianity.html .
        As a person who is just as proud of being a Christian as an American, I resent the attitude of such spokesmen for Christianity and I deplore their misrepresentation of Christ's true teaching.
          If these people really knew the Bible, they would be aware of the many passages that warn against such arrogant smugness and hypocrisy.  They would know and heed this teaching of Jesus, for example:

{ Matthew 21:28-32 }  

"What do you think?  A man had two sons;  he went to the first and said,  'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'  He answered,  'I will not';   but later he changed his mind and went.  The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?
        They said,  'The first.'   Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you,  the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you."

In a number of situations, the Bible makes it quite clear that, as important as the scriptures are, there is something much MORE important, and that is following the intent or spirit of the law, which people unaware of the written version of God's laws sometimes observe better than "the faithful".
        Paul of Tarsus went to great length to make this point, when he speaks of the importance of spiritual vs. physical circumcision.  What he says of "circumcision" relative to Jews, applies as well to baptism relative to Christians.

{ Romans 2:25-29 }  

" Being a Jew is worth something if you obey God's laws; but if you don't, then you are no better off than the heathen.   And if the heathen obey God's laws, won't God give them all the rights and honors he planned to give the Jews?   In fact, those heathen will be much better off than you Jews who know so much about God and have his promises but don't obey his laws.  For you are not real Jews just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision. 
      No, a real Jew is anyone whose heart is right with God. For God is not looking for those who cut their bodies in actual body circumcision, but he is looking for those with changed hearts and minds.  Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God, even if not from you. "

Is the pessimistic view that Conservatives have of America justified?  Is America really today's version of the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorah?  When I read the scriptures, I don't come to that conclusion at all.  While many imagine that the demands of "Christian charity" are met when churches provide a few poor families with a food basket once or twice a year, I believe that many Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Atheist and/or Agnostic Americans have been doing a lot more loving of their neighbors outside of the churches when they have fought for government programs that really help people.
        Isn't that what Isaiah was getting at when he proclaimed:

{ Isaiah 58:1-10 }:

"Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins!  Yet they act so pious!  They come to the temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws   - just as though they would obey them -  just as though they don't despise the commandments of their God!  How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!  'We have fasted before you,' they say.  'Why aren't you impressed?  Why don't you see our sacrifices?  Why don't you hear our prayers?  We have done much penance, and you don't even notice it!'
          I'll tell you why!  Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers.  Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling?  This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.  Is this what I want  - this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? -  Is this what you call fasting? 
          The kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn.  I want you to share your food with the hungry and destitute.  Clothe those who are cold, and don't hide from relatives who need your help.
          IF you do these things,  God will shed his own glorious light upon you.  He will heal you.  Your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.  Then, when you call, the Lord will answer.  'Yes, I am here,' he will quickly reply.  All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!  Feed the hungry!  Help those in trouble!   Then your light will shine out from the darkness,  and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day."

"Evangelical" preachers can tell you 'til the cows come home that "works" don't matter, and that you are "saved by faith alone", etc., etc.,  but the Scriptures tell another story.   This is just one of a multitude of passages which make it clear that our deeds or works do matter, and that it is only "If you do these things" (as opposed to those other ritual things) that God "will shed his own glorious light upon you."   And what is important to God are not the churchy things that Conservative preachers emphasize,  but the behavior outside of church, in our homes, our streets, our places of business, our workplaces and in the political arena that concern God (and Liberals)!
Jesus showed how much he agreed with Isaiah when he said:

Luke { 7: 21-23 } :  

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?'   Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'

Maybe God doesn't care about the many triumphs of justice and compassion that have taken place in America.  But, if Isaiah and the rest of the Bible are any indication,  God may be very happy with the way Christians and so-called "non-Christians" alike have implemented so much of the Bible's teaching in America, e.g. :

• providing for the education of even its poorest children,
• providing for a modicum of health for its children and its elderly, (if not always for those in between),
• abolishing slavery (though it took a war against the "Bible belt" section of the country to do it, and there remains much to be done in the area of racial and other minorities),
• enacting reasonable work hours and minimum wage standards,
• protecting the rights of workers to organize,
• providing protection for farmers,
• providing public utilities, damns, flood control, for people in remote areas,
• providing protection of consumers from unscrupulous business practices,
• providing crime and fire protection even for poor neighborhoods,
• providing a fair amount of justice in its legislative and justice systems,
• preventing public officials from abusing their power over common people,
• enabling women to vote and hold high public office,
• enabling women to earn income comparable to men,
• enacting Social Security to prevent many elderly from retiring into poverty,
• fighting even for the freedom of people in other countries,
• protecting the rights of people of all faiths to follow their own consciences,even when that disagrees with the conscience of the majority.

Conservatives don't come right out and say what they think, i.e. "God damn America!" ( because of what they consider its sinfulness ).   Christian and Jewish liberals, on the other hand, should not hesitate to say with pride, "God bless America!"   Thanks largely to our Liberal forebears of many faiths, and of no known faith,  millions of people are treated the way the Bible teaches they should be treated. 

The inscription on the statue of Liberty
is worthy of our Bible:

Conservatives complain endlessly about not allowed to pray "The Lord's Prayer" and the like at public school events.
        The Lord's Prayer is found in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 6, Actually, it begins midway in verse 9.  The full verse reads "6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: 'Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.' "
        "After this manner. . ." After what manner?  Jesus himself provides the very important answer :

{ Matthew 6: 1-13 }  

"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.   And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one."