Timothy Egan, writing in the Outpost blog on the New York Times, urges both campaigns to go "godless" during the general election. He argues that the mixture of religion and politics has become so toxic, and wingnut ministers have managed to accumulate way too much influence over our discourse, that purging god from the campaign just might get us back on the path toward sanity:
Just to refresh: it was televangelist Pat Robertson who predicted "earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly even a meteor" would hit Orlando for inviting gays to Disney World, and Rev. John Hagee who blamed Hurricane Katrina on a vengeful God angered over a gay pride parade in New Orleans. And they did this even without Doppler radar.
The fact that these people were taken seriously about anything other than, say, what color socks to wear on bingo night, tells us something about how far we’ve strayed rom the pulpit into the town square.
Time for a little history lesson, Egan says:
Forty-eight years ago an Irish Catholic presidential candidate said this about a bedrock principle of his:
"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute."
And, "I believe in a president whose views on religion are his own private affair."
Teddy:
Teddy Roosevelt, a McCain hero, was prescient on this point as well. He argued against putting, "In God We Trust," on the currency in 1907, saying it cheapens the divine. "It not only does no good," he wrote, "but it does positive harm."
Egan points to the fact that uber-Evangelist Rick Warren has invited gay fathers to his church on Father's Day, ostensibly for a sermon that's not centered on the evils of homosexuality, as a tipping point.
And pastors are getting out of the business of politics:
Joel Osteen, the feel-good Texas optimist who is perhaps the nation’s most popular minister, and Warren have both disavowed politics this year. They will not endorse a candidate, allow politics in the service, or issue thinly disguised election "guidelines," hint, hint.
Just Dandy: