Acknowledging the power of faith

Thank you, Senator Barack Obama, for reminding me that as a Democrat I should "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people and join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy."

And I do acknowledge that power. I acknowledge it every time a pandering politician shoves his personal deity in my face on television, radio, and in print. I acknowledge the power of that faith every time I think about our faith-based president and the zealots who contributed so much toward his insertion into the Oval Office. I acknowledge the power of evangelical faith when I tally the freedoms that might be lost by decisions of the faithful now sitting on the Supreme Court.

What I believe is that many of the faithful do not acknowledge my Constitutional right to be free of their faith, to not have it govern our common laws and dominate our public institutions. I further believe that many of the faithful have no real interest in joining a serious debate, much less reconciling their faith with a modern, pluralistic democracy. Besides, the debate was concluded 219 years ago. A secular nation won.

I also don't appreciate lectures from you, Senator Obama, that undermine the Democratic Party by confirming Republican smears of Dem godlessness (with the notable exception of, ahem, yourself). In your brief Senate career, you seem to have fashioned a role for yourself similar to that of Joe Lieberman's holier-than-thou public scold. The Democratic Party does not need you to do Karl Rove's job.

You might want to see a Democratic Party that would bend the Constitution to accommodate evangelicals. I don't. But that doesn't mean that we have closed our party to evangelicals. You joined, didn't you? And you are free to speak to your audience in whatever religious terms you wish. So let's just leave it there, shall we?