I've been as swept up in Barack Obama's candidacy as everyone else, but for me there is still one huge issue.
That huge issue is religion. No, I'm not concerned about his crazy pastor and what he has said in the press his sermons. What I am concerned about is that he has a pastor.
When I heard Reverend Wright's comments I wasn't really shocked at all. I have been in churches of numerous denominations through my life, from mainline protestant to holy roller mega churches. I have heard pastors continually belittle America and rage on about it's "moral" decline. I have seen pastors make persoanl attacks and encourgae taking political sides uncountable times. Reverend Wright was nothing different or special.
I am an atheist. It bothers me that a candidate still has to worry about being seen as a christian to get elected in this country. It bothers me that people still take advice on how to live from books written thousands of years ago. And make no mistakes; you do need to be a christian to win a national election in this country. Even though the Constitution forbids a religous test for public office, we still routinely put our candidates through just such a test. If the right was smart, they'd go after Obama as a former agnostic, and question the sincerity of his conversion. Atheist and agnostics poll as less trustworthy than muslims.
I'm not interested in wiping out religion or anything like that. My parents are church going people, and living in conservative Idaho I have many religous friends. I simply want it to not matter what religion or church a candidate belongs too. I want the "endorsements" of pastors to be meaningless fodder that doesn't make the news, and I want the National Prayer Breakfast to be something that religous folks can go do if they want, but our President has no obligation to show up to.
I wish Barack was Barack was still an agnostic and that he hadn't found christ. If he were still the nominee under those circumstances, he'd have broken down another serious barrier to power in this country.