The first decade of the twenty-first century finds the American people divided along a great, half-century-old fault line. On one side stand Traditionalists who understand human existence and glory (joys and sorrows) as defined by a western religious heritage, an existence circumscribed by tragedy. On the other side stand Secularists who reject the western tradition and its moral absolutes (even though they continue to espouse values that arose out of the West) and look forward to a world of ever-expanding personal freedom from societal restraints and old human weaknesses, a world wherein mankind will finally achieve total well-being For fifty years, Traditionalists and Secularists have been arguing over religion and their very different understandings of the meaning of freedom. Does the old religion, the western tradition as manifested in the United States, sustain and strengthen freedom or does it circumscribe freedom so much that religion destroys freedom?

Retired from public service in Kentucky state government, James L. Hood, MBA, PhD, has taught western civilization, American history, Kentucky history, business marketing, and organizational behavior at several public and private universities in Kentucky. He is the author of several articles and books, with much of his writing devoted to the tension in American society between conforming to community values and asserting individual liberties. He presently teaches American history survey classes and Kentucky history at the University of Kentucky.