Excellent post, both points. America was not founded on secular principles ... and I would argue that poster child for religious fundamentalism, in the 21st century at least, is certainly the Middle East.
in the description, I said that America is the poster child for religious fundamentalism in the Western World, but I forgot to put that in the title. Sorry!
No, no, my fault. I should have read the description closer. Nonetheless, that statement still isn't sitting quite right with me. I think ... we're just the poster child for religion in the west. Some fundamentalism just comes with the territory.
Most countries have fundamentalists. For example, in the Netherlands we have a bible belt. However, most ridiculous religious claims come from American soil. This might be because politics and religion are so tightly interwoven in the US or because no one is actually taking religious fundamentalists seriously the way the US does.