Either Bush, either Clinton, Obama, McCain, Palin, whoever… doesn't matter as much the poster child as the baggage they carry; who are the people bankrolling them and the ones that have their ear behind the scenes. This is the thing most voters forget to consider. Be careful, very, very, careful.

….  Allah and the Christian God sure do have different ideas of what constitutes justice don't they?

Or at least the followers that control the press do. I'm of the one God school but am open to different people having different names for the Creator.On of my ex-students explained how her second grade teachers got around the issue of several different church memberships and religions in her class… the teacher told the kids getting to heaven was like a cross country 'plane trip; it didn't matter which airline you flew… as long as you got there. Pretty simple and clean IMHO.

Could success be defined by the nation that earns the most income per capita through its colonies? 

Yes, because that is what financed their ventures and, through taxation, help build up their government. 

And this defines the fall of France; ran out of money backing US against England and had to resort to higher taxes to float the whole boat… led to the Rev.As I pointed oput to my students, France backed US not because they wanted to see us grow but they couldn't stand missing a chance to stick it to England. This drove much of their common history, neither passing on a chance to give the other a black eye.  ;D

… but the definitions we talked about could be equally applied to so-called American Imperialism.  I wonder if he would think American support for Zelaya in Honduras as opposed to the countries legislative and legal bodies was imperialist too?

Depends on the definitions; paraphrasing from a text that I used to use on the modern era: Imperialism can be defined as domination of another nation or region by way of any of the following…    economically [raw materials, markets, or investments… make them a vassal state]    nationalistic motive [territorial conquest… absorb and if possible acculturate them… see below]    religion [spread of yours to them… save thier souls]    cultural [seeking to impose yours at the expense of theirs… ala Kipling; bring them up to speed]   

Good start, add that the competition level between England and France drove them more than the others.

In the world of Harry Potter it's called being splinched.

Even with what you write here, I have no doubt that voodoo is condemned by the Catholic Church and that those who practice it and practice Catholicism are doing something that is not permitted under the latter.  Quite simply, Catholicism is a monotheistic religion, not a polytheistic one.

Today… during the Age of Exploration the Church was very active in attempts at saving souls of heathens, often showing them how similar their native beliefs were to the teaching of the church (like lots of saints that were similar to the lesser gods of the native pantheon, etc.). Yes, condemn voodoo and the like but turn their practitioners by showing how their needs are met by the new religion. Best of all one all powerful God to ride herd on the rest.

Kill a chicken if one can be found.