| Civil Religion | Biblical Religion | ||
| Deity—an unnamed Being | Personal God Yahweh | ||
| Creator | Creator, Judge | ||
| No Original Sin—just moral deficiency | The Fall—Original Sin | ||
| Heroes—"sainted" Founding Fathers | Savior— personal, Jesus Christ | ||
| Documents—Constitution, etc., inspired by God via Reason | Sacred Texts—written by God | ||
| Reasoning Mind and Conscience | Soul & Spirit—real life is in heaven after death | ||
| Punishment—not corporal, rather reformation of character | Punishment = Divine Justice | ||
| Reforming Institutions—government not church institutions | Confession & Personal Salvation | ||
| History is Progress—Divine Providence & Manifest Destiny | History is Divine Lesson—rise & Fall of Chosen People | ||
| Politics—"Exceptional" Nation is Sovereign and Sacred | City of God & City of Man—Earth is transition place | ||
| Evil is Enemy—sourced in individual outlaw &/or outsider | Evil is Devil inside Fallen Man | ||
| Citizenship—highest calling—sacred Duty to State | Amazing Grace—Wretch—Duty Only to God | ||
| Slaver—Biblically acceptable & legally defined inequality | Slavery—acceptable, yet all equal in eyes of God | ||
| Women—no Goddess—Feminine is invisible and "weakness" | Women—no Goddess—Feminine is obliterated | ||
| Warrior's Quest culture—Chosen People & Dominion | Warrior's Quest culture—Chosen People & Dominion | ||
| President—Commander in Chief—Balance of Powers—Triad |
Father King—Holy Trinity |
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| Sacrifice—male sons | Sacrifice—Only Begotten Son | ||
| Battlefield death—highest merit & bestows male identity | Crucified—personal agony pay's Adam's "debt" | ||
| Social laws—"society of laws, not individuals" | Higher Law—individual faithfulness against secular | ||
| Rights of Man—civil liberties grounded in natural rights | Natural Law manifests Divine Law—all Children of God | ||
| We, the People—social contract | People of God—Chosen and specially covenanted | ||
| Chosen People—virtuous—"immoral man, moral society" | Chosen People—redeemed by God's grace | ||
| Rule of Law— inspired by Ten Commandments | Divine Revelation—foundation in Ten Commandments | ||
| Holidays—sacred secular cycle | Holy Days—obligatory sacred cycle | ||
| Minimal imagery—flag, "In God we trust" | No idols—anti-iconographic—"no graven images" | ||
| Protestant Heritage of anti-iconography | Sacred Art—"no graven images" | ||
| Verbal Profession of "American faith"—Pledge of Allegiance | Acts not words—Philistines and Pharisees | ||
| Political Religion—sect of "America"; Rousseau | Sects—"Mine is true!"—everyone else is a heretic |