At the core of our Constitution lies justification for what conservatives call “American exceptionalism”—an obligation to deliver freedom and democracy to the world. This ideology, created “under God,” has assumed new clout with the union between political and Christian fundamentalism—a marriage that threatens both our personal liberty to achieve as we choose and to have an equal opportunity trying.

And at the core of this democracy lies individual freedom. While a majority decides, the minority is protected from tyranny by specific rights and legal recourse. Over two centuries, our model has produced unprecedented social and economic opportunity for all.

Comes today. We see legislative bodies at all levels falling sway to religious dogma—a Christian version of Sharia Law. In the United States Senate a minority now blocks every legislative action, even those that both parties have agreed on. Instead of majority rule, we’re witnessing a minority takeover with disastrous consequences. This is unprecedented in U.S. history.

Take the always-inflammatory argument over a woman’s right to self-determination. There is a national consensus that aborting a fetus should never be a casual choice, nor seen as birth control. But without surrendering her equal right to intercourse, it must always be a woman’s decision to continue or end a pregnancy. We must rely on her—not a congressman, nor a priest, nor a judge—to be the author of her circumstances.

If we believe individual self-interest is wiser than the brightest committee, then we must rely on women’s judgment about motherhood. If we don’t, and instead impose collective decisions, we sacrifice the personal freedoms we claim to hold dear.

Politico-religious ideology devalues each of us and erodes our claims to exceptionalism. Abandoning our reliance on private decision making undermines the foundation on which we stand with such pride.

Instead of being exceptional, we become quite ordinary.