In the wake of yesterday’s election, conservative Andrew Sullivan reprints a letter from a far-right conservative reader whose views have evolved [link]. Here’s the last paragraph:

I believe in smaller government. I believe in efficient government. I believe in honest government. I believe in reason informed by faith. I believe in politics, informed by faith, but not ruled by it. I believe in the principles of government as set forth by the Founding Fathers. I believe ours is not a Christian nation, and it never was. It is a nation built on the ideals of the Enlightenment. Ideals born in Judeo-Christian thought, but tempered by secular reason and rationality.

Also TPM is posting that AP exit polls found fully one-third of evangelical voters did not vote for Republican candidates yesterday. Perhaps we’re seeing a realignment in the U.S. away from the cynical conflation of politics and religion. That’s good news for us. As nonbelievers here in the U.S. we should do all that we can to encourage rational believers to return to Enlightenment ideals. It’s the only way we can prevent the rise of a Taliban-like state that would persecute nonbelievers and other so-called heretics.