^ I am really a little bit bewildered at this point. You (TW88) seem to be taking positions on both sides of the points I was making.
Making no laws favoring one church over the over is exactly what I meant by separation of church and state. Moreover, at least in the United States that is pretty much the standard way of talking about this issue.
That certain individuals can still exercise their personal philospohy in how they conduct themselves is exactly what I meant by the idea of being a Chirstian nation.
You make a very good point about the U.S. not being a theocracy. The point you missed, partly because I left it unarticulated, is that so many voters are motivated by their Christian beliefs. Also, separation of church and state is very controversial among a substantial minority of people in this country. Many would like to see the U.S support Christianity more overtly than it already has.
On the materialism versus "theocracy" comment. No, the U.S. is not a theocracy, but it does not have the kind of materialist philosophy that China now has.
On mythos versus logos, many people in the United States do take mythos literally. They are called "fundamentalists". Many others belong to other wise progressive churches and call themselves "Episcopalian" or some such other appellation. Other denominations fall somewhere in between those poles and also take mythos literally. That the "backers" of mythos are often irrational is a very big problem in the United States.
On the Chinese front, spirituality has been under assault from the government for decades now. There the problem, at least as I see it, is the lack of freedoms to openly embrace mythos - i.e. religion and other such manifestations. I know this may seem to contradict my comments about problems in the United States, but in my mind freedom of speach trumps my qualms on that front.
Beyond my response to TW88 and concerning who might be falling apart, The Nation had a recent article about this in which they pointed out that many of the top echelon in China have overseas bank accounts and/or property interests. They appear to be very much worried about the stability of their country and appear to be making exit plans. Also, illegal public protests have apparently been more wide spread than is generally acknowledged. So while certain elements on these boards may think the U.S. is ready to fall apart, that may actually be much more the case with China. Time will tell.
As to the U.S. doesn't have to worry about pollution front (an idea presented in an earlier post prior to TW88) this notion is sadly delusional. Can anybody say "global warming"?