How much is too Much -- Religion and Politics

It should not surprise us that religion is once again a hot topic of conversation in the context of presidential politics. Both our current president and his predecessor are known to have sprinkled religion into the mix -- and the current president at times takes on the aura of "pastor-in-chief" and considering we're in a time of war, maybe an expression of the old Roman idea of the emperor as "pontifex maximus."

But how much religion do we want mixed into our politics? While you ponder that question consider for a moment that running for president include a Mormon, whose religious beliefs are being heavily scrutinized, a Southern Baptist preacher who has at least broached the subject of taking America for Jesus in the past, a member of the United Church of Christ with a Muslim sounding middle-name, a devout convert from Evangelicalism to Catholicism, a Baptist, a Methodist, a few Episcopalians, etc. So, how much is too much?

Chris Cillizza, who keeps his finger on the political pulse of the nation points out:

A May 2004 CBS News poll asked what worried people more: "Public officials who don't pay enough attention to religion and religious leaders or public officials who are too close to religion and religious leaders?"

Overall 35 percent said they worried more about politicians not paying enough attention to religion, while 51 percent said they fretted about politicians paying too much attention. Isolate Republicans, however, and the numbers were nearly reversed with 53 percent saying politicians don't pay enough attention and 30 percent choosing the "too close" option. Compare that with just 25 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Independents who wanted public officials to pay more attention to religion and religious leaders. The partisan gap is obvious.

And yet around 75% of Americans want prayer in school and the Ten Commandments posted there as well. We seem conflicted, don't you think? We want religious folk in leadership -- perhaps making them seem more honest -- but we don't want that religion playing too large a role.

That GOPers want more isn't surprising, and Democrats seem just skeptical -- despite the fact that there many religious folk whose values in general mesh pretty well with the Democratic platform!