Irreligiousity

In today's Washington Post, Kathleen Parker wrote Pastor Rick's Test. Her compelling thesis was that although Pastor Rick acquitted himself adequately, this event sets an awful precedent for the country. In short because it casts a Pastor (can a Rabbi or Priest be far behind?) as

"political arbiter in a nation founded on the separation of church and state"

She correctly asserts that the clear winner here was Pastor Rick himself who will now stand to further empower and enrich himself in the national arena. She calls into question the obvious obliteration blurring of one of the nation's founding principles- that of the separation of church and state. Pastor Rick provided this gem in a tortured explanation of exactly where his belief on this matter lies

"Though "we" believe in the separation of church and state, "we" don't believe in the separation of faith and politics. Faith, he said, "is just a worldview, and everybody has some kind of worldview. It's important to know what they are."

Ummm, ok. She continues to plead her case that as a nation, we are far worse off now because we are parading our candidates to into a church to answer questions of morality by a 'spiritual leader'.

She is right, but let's look at this issue just a little bit more critically. Why is this happening? Because we live in a very religious country where church is very much part of state and becoming more of it by the day. There is a demand for this line of questioning in this kind of setting. Though it boggles my mind and i would think others who believe that the separation of church and state is a rock solid precept. But here we are. Our nation has a vast appetite for religion and places great stock in candidates personal relationship with their savior. Let's not forget the equally inappropriate Democratic Candidate's Compassion Forum staged back in April 2008.

If the electorate continues to place this much importance on these types of questions, we may well find ourselves with Bush 3. God help us all.