In his New York Times review of Andrew Sullivan's book, The Conservative Soul, David Brooks salutes Sullivan's attention to the religious tradition in conservative ideology. But then Brooks goes further:

"the United States was not founded on the basis of custom, but by the assertion of a universal truth — that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain rights. The United States is a creedal nation, and almost every significant movement in American history has been led by people calling upon us to live up to our creed. In many cases, the people making those calls were religious leaders. From Jonathan Edwards to the abolitionists to the civil rights leaders to the people fighting AIDS and genocide in Africa today, religiously motivated people have been active in public life. They have been, in their certainty and their willingness to apply divine truths, fundamentalists — if we want to use Sullivan’s categories. You take those people out of American politics and you don’t have a country left."

Whoa? Is fundamentalism fundamental to the American experiment? Perhaps if "creed" and "fundamental" come to mean our hope in the future, but then can progressive philosophies of justice and peace exist without grounding in common creed, and will the real fundamentalists ever care?

As more moderate politicians and less ideological policies gain momentum this November, I wonder: beyond hope and anger, where lies the best common ground that converts all American faith into good works?