Faith Page on Friday

Sally Quinn writes on "God" in politics and comes to a surprising conclusion. Not surprising for heathens of course who believe religion and politics are like oil and water, they don't mix well, but to those who believe religion and politics are like peanut butter and jelly.

The political left are not the muslim loving atheists that the right so wishes them to be, but rather they are nearly just as willing to insert God in their politics to pander to a primarily Christian base. It's gets me all riled up when I hear someone like Rick Perry claiming that Obama is leading a war on religion as this is far from the truth. Just look at his faith based initiative continued from the Bush administration, albeit with an overhaul to avoid church state conflict(perhaps not enough by some). At the very worst, from the Christian Right's perspective, Obama is more inclusive with his religious language and on a rare occasion mentioning non-believers(as if we are deserving of citzenry) unlike conservatives such as Marc Rubio who seem to make a conscious effort to exclude anyone but Christians in their language:

And we're special -- we're special because we are united --
we're united not as a common race or ethnicity, we are bound
together by common values.  The family is the most important
institution in society.
   (APPLAUSE)
   And that almighty God is the source of all we have.
   (APPLAUSE)
   We are special.  We are special because we have never made
the mistake of believing we are so smart that we can rely solely
on our leaders or on our government.  Our national motto, ``in
God we trust'', reminding us that faith in our creator is the
most important American value of them all.
   (APPLAUSE)

So, the surpising conclusion that Quinn comes too:

When you add “God” to the Democratic platform you are essentially ignoring the fact that some 15 percent of Americans are either atheists, agnostics, secular humanists or simply say they don’t believe.

That doesn’t make them less good than those who believe. Osama Bin Laden, for instance, believed in God. What it does make them is disenfranchised. It says, this is a party and a country that doesn’t include you. They may not believe that their potential is God-given. Those who do must know that it goes without saying. So why does it have to be shoved down the throat of the nonbelievers?

She is right on target. This is something I can say amen to. God does not have a rightful place in politics. It is put there at the peril of believers and non-believers alike. I'm glad DNC had so little of it this year and hope that continues in the future. The right will continue to bemoan the lack of God and let them. I think there will come a time when the majority is no longer on there side.