I once was a member of the Republican Party back in the 80’s when being a conservative meant that you watched you p’s and q’s, counted you pennies and believed that religion did not belong in politics. As you’ve probably surmised…not anymore.

Sunday, on Meet the Press former Republican Senator John Danforth talked about his book, “Faith and Politics: How the Moral Values Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together.” One of his more astounding passages is; “When Christians claim special knowledge of God’s truth, when they advance wedge issues, when they divide America between ‘people of faith’ and their ‘enemies,’ Christians become not the means of peace but the cause of conflict.  In that case, Christians are far from being powerless. They are powerful contributors to what has gone wrong in American politics.”

CNN’s Lou Dobb’s jumps on the bandwagon today and talks about religion and politics. “What is the Constitutional and appropriate role of religion in our political lives. Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State says there are definite limits. “What houses of worship cannot do, under federal law, is to endorse or oppose candidates for public office. They may not use their resources to intervene in a partisan race. Houses of worship cannot become cogs in anyone’s political machine.”

“But isn’t that exactly what is happening today? Some churches and nonprofits have become extensions of both Democratic and Republican political message machines at the local and national level. The intrusion of religion into our political lives, in my opinion, should be rejected in the same fashion that we constitutionally guarantee government will not interfere with religion.”  (Amen brother)