Authority

Dennis Prager posts a short article on Townhall.com explaining the basis for America's 'culture war'.

"If you want to predict on which side an American will line up in the Culture War wracking America, virtually all you have to do is get an answer to this question: Does the person believe in the divinity and authority of the Five Books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah?" [...]

"Very often the dividing line in America is portrayed as between those who believe in God and those who don't. But the vast majority of Americans believe in God, and belief in God alone rarely affects people's values. Many liberals believe in God; many conservatives do. What matters is not whether people believe in God but what text, if any, they believe to be divine. Those who believe that He has spoken through a given text will generally think differently from those who believe that no text is divine. Such people will usually get their values from other texts, or more likely from their conscience and heart."

I am the Lord your God... you shall have no other gods before me.- God

-or-

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.- William Ernest Henley, 1875

With its expanded interpretation:

It matters not how grave your fates,
Or devastation wrought by fools,
We are the masters of your fates:
We are the captains of your souls.- Cain, way B.C.... Kim Jong-il, 2006, A.D.