I loved your article. You have a lot of great research and writing.

I find it interesting that the fierce belief of the Jews that God had intervened to save them was a key ingredient in the survival of their culture.

I think of Christian Smith's twenty year old description of Evangelicalism as embattled but thriving. It is amazing how much political power a religious group can acquire while still feeling persecuted.

My one suggestion is that there may be far more than just the two groups that need to be integrated into a shared vision. All of the dissonant voices and third parties some how need to be woven into a shared story. Furthermore, the United States needs to return to a place within the family of nations, not as the sole superpower that presumes to impose our views on the rest of the world.

Good luck with the search for Cyrus. I wonder if instead we should all strive to make our contribution instead of waiting for the next "messianic" political figure to save us.