If Only Atheists Were Running For President, I'd Have Nothing To Write About

I suppose I’d have to write about something other than Obama/Wright. At least I’d probably have somebody I’d want to vote for.

My atheist candidates are imaginary of course. An African-American and a woman stand a better chance of being elected president than an atheist does. So much for the separation of church and state. However, if the three current major candidates were atheists, none of them would have to worry about their respective “preachergate.” Here’s the rundown so far: Obama/Wright, McCain/Hagee, McCain/Parsley, and Clinton/Coe. For Hillary Clinton, that’s Doug Coe. I’m not sure if he could strictly be called a preacher, but he has a “pastorate.”

Here is Barbara Ehrenreich on Hillary’s Nasty Pastorate:

There’s a reason why Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she’s a lot more vulnerable than Obama.

You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that “through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the “Fellowship,” aka The Family. But it won’t be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet’s shocking exposé, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May.

Read the rest at Barbara’s Blog.