http://www.juancole.com/2005/03/schiavo-case-and-islamization-of.html
The author is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan. One of the quotes he discusses is that of a politician saying that Terry Schiavo as a Roman Catholic is running the risk of losing her immortal soul.(She must be saved from herself, I guess.) So, now we have politicians advocating that, if a person is a Roman Catholic, they can't make a living will. Sen. John Warren and Rep. Christopher Shays have broken with their party publicly.
I remember when I was a kid, my father (who would be 89 this year if he had lived)said that the clergy "had too much to say." This was in the 50's. We seem to go through these periods of religious fervor in this country and it always seems to be of the right wing variety. In Europe the most anti-clerical countries are France and Italy. Both of these are countries where the clery had historically allied itself with the wealthy classes. My grandmother was from Abruzzi in Italy. She went to mass every Sunday but separated her everyday life from the Church. She once said to me, "The priest say "Do what I say not what I do.'" and laughed. I was young then and attending Catholic school and was mildly surprised. I wonder what she would say if she were alive today? I think she would be pretty angry about religion mixing in politics.