Following on the heels of yesterday's dairy entry, where I tried to set the tone for future entries as that of holding our elected officials' and our medias' feet to the fire in the hope of getting the best from them, here's a great example of the Obama presidency not living up to expectations: The Creeping fungus of religion in government:
President Bush seems not to have been able to make public decisions without reference to right-wing religious beliefs. That inclination was probably reinforced by his practice of having a weekly conference call with conservative Christian clergy.
It is troubling to learn that President Obama appears to have instituted the same practice of scheduled weekly consultation with clergy.
When did the separation of Church and State get forgotten? In America, clergy don't have any privilege over that of any other citizen. And where did the Freedom of (and from) Religion get forgotten? Majority of the country or not, one religion should not EVER get a monopoly on the ear to any elected official. Much less the President.
I know the reason for this - populist pandering - but it is no excuse. Sometimes pandering is a "necessary evil" of being a politician, but it's a bad practice and it has no place in an American presidency, progressive or conservative.
Even more alarming is that few media outlets care. That is how badly warped our media is, that they see blatant violations of the separation of Church and State and display indifference. They don't report it, and you hardly hear about Obama's permissive stance to religious consultation in his presidency.
The only time it was ever mentioned, in any notable volume, was during the inauguration, when Evangelical pastor and activist Rick Warren was invited by the Obama transition team. And even then, indifference.