This Is Just Plain Wrong

Religion can make people do some good things. Mostly it just makes them do nutty things. Here is an example:

From Obama quits church, citing controversies:

Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that he has resigned from the church where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers created political headaches for his campaign.

"We don't want to have to answer for everything that's stated in the church," the Democratic front-runner said. "We also don't want the church subjected to the scrutiny that a presidential campaign legitimately undergoes."

Bye bye separation of church and state. So long freedom of speech. Adios “…but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

The irony here is that sometimes I wish that the Constitution had a clause that simply banned all religions from being practiced in the United States. Of course that would not be right since it would be a limit on our freedom. It is better for people to learn the errors of their ways on their own, rather than by mandate. However, it certainly would simplify things for Barack Obama right now. The fact is that we do have freedom of speech and we do have freedom of religion. So I find myself trying to defend the Constitution in regards to something that I don’t even believe in. That of course would be God and religion.

I realize that this is a political issue as well as a religious one. Should it be? Doesn’t the Constitution make it clear that religion should not be a part of politics? Is the Constitution wrong about this? Were the founders just trying to tell us that belief in God is illogical and has no place in government?

The other irony here is that the freedom of speech and freedom of religion that is being attacked here is the same freedom of speech and freedom of religion that the attackers cherish. The attackers in this case are Republicans and the right wing. They just don’t like the content of the speech coming from Obama’s former church. If the shoe were on the other foot I’m sure they would not like it. This is a not so subtle point that they just don’t seem to understand, as their constant attacks on the ACLU demonstrate.

It seems to me that Obama is demonstrating a form of censorship by distancing himself from Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ. This just seems wrong to me.