EXACTLY THE WRONG WAY TO TALK ABOUT RELIGION AND POLITICS

That the Washington Post has anything on faith is a bit of a stretch until you read what some of the writers discuss. Amazing, and not surprising. Ivory tower types (and I was one) tend to be totally out of touch with the real world, after reading this it just re-confirms that sentiment:

WashingtonPost.com has a section entitled On Faith, to promote intelligent conversation about religion in America. This post, by Prof. Wendy Doniger at the University of Chicago's Divinity School, caught my attention. Here's how it begins:

I don’t care a fig about our next president’s personal religious views. The candidate can worship the Great Pumpkin, for all I care, as long as he or she doesn’t assume that the rest of us do too, and that the Great Pumpkin told him to do things such as, to take a case at random, invade Iraq.If Prof. Doniger was trying as hard as possible to reinforce the stereotype that liberal academics belittle and trivialize the faith of others, she most certainly succeeded. Whether to Great Pumpkins or Spaghetti Monsters, this kind of reference is condescending. And so is the suggestion that serious politicians "do things" because there is a Pumpkin or Spaghetti Monster whispering in their ear. Read More.