Indeed. The ghost of the puritan christianity still seems to be plaguing the American society: 'Hard work' is still valued like how puritens valued it, and thos

Indeed. The ghost of the puritan christianity still seems to be plaguing the American society: 'Hard work' is still valued like how puritens valued it, and those who do not 'work hard' are seen as worthless. Which means that the poor, the homeless etc are all sinners and can be ignored. The religious behavior set continues in public discourse as well, with religious mentality of Christianity which teaches that Christians can do no wrong and all those who are not from their own flock are evil. Which is applied to their society and its affairs: The US is 'great' or at the worst, 'okay' even as the society crumbles, and all the targeted enemies of the US are 'horrible evildoers'. When the US does something, its 'okay', but when others do the same thing, its an 'atrocity' etc. In short, its likely the ghost of puriten christianity and its practice of exceptionalism that elevates itself whereas demeans, smears and makes enemies of all others by projecting all the evils to them.