John McCain and Barack Obama decided to participate in a religious test: An interview by Rick Warren, an evangelical pastor. He wanted to know how they define evil and what relationship they have with Jesus Christ. As Kathleen Parker points out in the Washington Post, apparently, they did not feel a need to decline this invitation to blur the separation between religion and state, nor to avoid a religious test for office, which is unconstitutional. Instead of focusing on who won the debate, Parker argues, we should realize who lost: all of us. Such debates have no business in a pluralistic society that is built on the separation of religion and state because the Founding Fathers wanted to avoid the preferential treatment of one religion over another. It’s no wonder, then, that we atheists feel ignored by those politicians pandering to the religious as if they had a right to equate faith with electability.

(Hat tip to Butterflies and Wheels for the link to the WP article.)

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