The vast majority of us want the same things, believe in the same things, hope for the same things, and part of the reason we allow ourselves to scream so loudly is because, unlike certain other societies in this world — where sectarian and civil violence are never far away — the stakes are actually quite low. We aren’t all Christians anymore, but we are still very highly united spiritually as well as culturally. Bill Ellis Romney, Obama have shared values http://spokanefavs.com/politics/election/romney-obama-have-shared-values

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.