They are, in Louisville, Kentucky, Reverend Albert Mohler, Jr. president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Time.com described him as "the reigning intellectual" of the Evangelical movement in this country. And in Washington is David Kuo, the Washington editor of Beliefnet.com, the best-selling author of "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction." He's former special assistant to President Bush, deputy director of the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives.You can pretty much predict the dialogue. I like how Wallis tries to pretend the religious litmus test clause of the Constitution isn't really that important...cause we need to know a candidate's "moral compass". Riiiiiiiight. What tells us the character of a candidate isn't their professed belief, but their record of action and behavior. It takes little effort to convince people with words how much you love Jebus, but it takes a bit more to show a lifetime of consistent moral behavior and strong principles. Why people on the Religious Right are so easily suckered by speeches, in the presence of contradindicating evidence, (think Newt Gengrich) is beyond me.
In Orlando is Reverend Jim Wallis, best-selling author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It." He's president and executive director of "Sojourners"
"Call to Renewal;" editor-in-chief of "Sojourners" magazine.
In Washington, Reverend Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He's a best- selling author, including the book, "Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom."
And in Boston, our man, David Gergen, who served as White House adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton; editor-at- large, "U.S. News & World Report"; and professor of public service at Harvard's JFK School of Government.
The full transcript of the show and a few clips online.
This is old news, but I had to put my $0.02 in on the David Paszkiewicz issue -- if I, as a high school teacher, had said that God was a fairytale and that we evolved from material causes only, I would be fired. There is no doubt about it. And I completely respect that: teachers should not have the ability to use their classroom as a platform on religious views. But this teacher gets away with telling kids *IN CLASS* that they'll go to hell if they don't accept Jesus and that the Big Bang is "unscientific". Just because some of the board members agree with him; not because what he said wasn't unconstitutional. I hate double standards like this.
Remember the dumbass I mentioned who sued her church when she was "slain in the spirit" and got injured? She won the case. Only in America, folks...
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Technorati tags: God, Religion, Church-state, Politics, Philosophy, Intelligent Design, Evolution, Creationism
