Obama’s Supposed “Religion Dilemma” and American Exceptionalism

As I've reported recently, conservatives, spurred by the ahistorical renderings of Newt Gingrich and others, wrap the exceptionalism narrative into a pat us-versus-them package: that Obama doesn't understand the divine roots of the American founding, probably because he's not really a Christian and not really an American, and only by electing the likes of Michele Bachmann or Jim DeMint can we ensure that the Christian nation ship can be righted again.

By framing the confrontation of this narrative as an "uphill battle," Democrats make the enormous and unnecessary mistake of placing themselves in the position of the counter-cultural underdog. The conservatives have no special right to own the American exceptionalism narrative, and Democrats shouldn't yield that ground to them. They need an America narrative of their own, one that is just as forceful and unapologetic as the right's.

via www.religiondispatches.org