Well, disheartened liberals had better figure out the values thing quickly if they hope to ever have a relevant role in national politics again.

Their greatest mistake is to view the values issue only in the narrow context of the religious right's agenda of abortion, same-sex marriage, school prayer, physician-assisted suicide and medical use of marijuana.

Many Americans — and not only liberals — rightly resent efforts to mix faith and politics in order to impose rigid religious beliefs on everybody.

But the religious right doesn't have the voting numbers to swing an election on its own.

The worries about values that carried Bush to a second term went beyond abortion and school prayer to broader concerns about the loss of common decency in a pop culture that glorifies promiscuity, drugs, violence, vulgarity and laziness.

Imposition of values works both ways. Those who don't want religious values forced on them need to be more considerate about forcing unwelcome pop values on Americans who take their religion seriously.

It's the little things that can grate, and conflicts over values frequently are fought on small battlefields.

Where was the common sense in a New Jersey school district's decision to bar school bands from playing traditional Christmas carols for fear that the religious message might offend?

This flawed thinking would effectively banish not only holiday music, but three centuries of our greatest classical compositions that were often inspired by faith and commissioned by the church.

Why is there so much resistance to reasonable efforts by schools to rein in skin-and-underwear fashion and curb the bump-and-grind simulations of sex acts that pass for dancing at homecoming?

It's certainly no comfort that the kids are only emulating what they see on MTV all day.

Is it that hard to understand the frustration of TV viewers who tune in wholesome sporting events only to see some pop twit expose her breast to America, or a naked starlet stalk a wide receiver in the locker room?

These are inappropriate impositions of values on the many by the few every bit as much as religion-based political proselytizing.

In significant ways, the battle over values is a continuation of the cultural divide that split the country during the Vietnam War era.

The "do your own thing" ethic of the 1960s was a historically positive force in terms of unleashing a generation of creative energy, fostering a healthier view of sexuality and, most importantly, advancing equal opportunity for women, minorities and others in the underclass.

But some subsequent social relaxations by the Me Generation clearly went awry, spawning a drug culture that drains our community spirit and resources, epidemics of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and record numbers of broken families, teenage pregnancies and sex crimes.

In this light, it's not difficult to understand why so many Americans are leery of further movements to liberalize social mores, such as same-sex marriage.

The often sleazy world of politics seems an odd arena in which to fight the culture wars, but it's one of the few venues where people feel they have a voice.

Perhaps the best way to start healing our divisions over values is to try lowering our voices.

A little more mutual respect and simple courtesy could take us a long way toward discovering some worthy national values of tolerance, fairness and civility that we all can agree on.