The exit polls reported that people voted for President George W. Bush because of “moral values.” According to the religious people of our great country, homosexuals have an agenda to take over the world, and women, if not controlled, will be running back and forth to abortion clinics killing their babies. It is the duty of conservative religious Americans to prevent the havoc that homosexuals and abortions will wreak.

Yes, let’s focus on these issues because we don’t have bigger problems.

Last week, the BBC asked Americans why they voted for Bush. One woman from Memphis, Tenn., wrote: “I voted for Mr. Bush as he [is] an honest, God-fearing man who will see us through these dark days of terror.” What dark days of terror? What exactly is going on in Memphis? I don’t feel confined to my room because of terror, but I can’t say the same for the people in Iraq. I want to speak to this woman and ask her exactly what she was thinking.

It seems, according to her, that only a “God-fearing man” is capable of destroying the terrorists. Maybe this is possible because a God-fearing man can talk to God who tells him where the terrorists are hiding.

This is what makes Bush more capable of fighting terror: his special relationship with God. One little problem, though – Osama bin Laden is still lurking around.

According to another person who wrote to the BBC, “The liberal Democrats just don’t get it. Jesus Christ, the American flag, the Ten Commandments, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are as sacred as the Bill of Rights.”

I didn’t get the memo about the Ten Commandments becoming the American law we all follow. What happened to the separation of church and state?

We see from the BBC poll that Americans actually believe Bush would be the better president because he seems more religious. This religiousness was scored based on how far to the right he leans.

This election taught us that only a right-winged conservative can be religious. Liberalism, apparently, is synonymous with atheism. A liberal just doesn’t get the Ten Commandments.

President Bush is good with 51 percent of voting Americans because he is God-fearing. This is the man who invaded Iraq – an invasion that killed thousands – for no logical reason. This is the man who supports Israeli occupation in the West Bank, an occupation that has been responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent lives. This is the man who fights violence with violence.

So this is the religious person?

If people had voted for Bush because of his policies, it wouldn’t be a problem. But people voted for him because he’s religious. We criticize countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia for not being secular. We don’t want Iraq and Afghanistan to have Islamic governments. Yet we turn around and vote for a president based on his religion.

Why is there so much hypocrisy in our country?

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.