The Hell We Don't Welcome Faith

Dana Milbank asks Will Democrats Put Their Faith in Obama? and the answer is Perhaps If They Take Enough Valium. Sen. Barak Obama (D-Not Hillary) gave a religiously themed speech, promoting the usual Democrat talking points but emphasizing some new ones too--the "need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away" and admonishing the party for blocking faith from the public square. Milbank describes Obama as a mirror image of President Bush:

Just as Bush rhetorically took on the "leave us alone" conservatives in his party, Obama said he felt a "pang of shame" because his staff had put on his campaign Web site "standard Democratic boilerplate" that disparaged abortion foes. He also complained that Democrats had "taken the bait" by banishing any hint of faith, and said they should favor faith-based addiction programs, voluntary prayer in schools and references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Obama gave the speech to "left-leaning Christian leaders" who loved it. Others of a more, um, progressive persuasion, not so much. Pachacutec* at Firedoglake:

It’s not Bill Clinton’s fault George Bush ignored 9-11 warnings.

But this bullshit  from Barack Obama is Bill Clinton’s fault.  The greatest victory of the radical right wing has been to train Democratic politicians to disrespect, mischaracterize and run against their base in the progressive movement.  And that is Bill Clinton’s fault.

First of all, there’s a very thriving religious left, thank you very much.  It’s absolutely false that Democrats and progressives disrespect or somehow fail to include people of faith. ...

Well, Jim Wallis of Sojourners hosted the Obama speech, so you've got that. And the Pachacutec says there was a nice interfaith service at the Yearly Kosfest. Oh, and adds:

Frankly, I’m fed up with paeans to St. Bill Clinton. He was extraordinarily talented, and the Democratic party grew far weaker under his leadership.  Yes, we defended him when he was wrongly attacked, but now it’s time to get past Bill worship.  Idiots like Obama still think the path to power is to spin Karl Rove’s lies into oratorical gold to gin up support from people who would rather see him in shackles than see him in national office.

Still dreaming of Fitzmas I see. The poster goes on to point to a Kossack "community" as evidence of the thriving Christian left. Thriving it may be, but a post there by Chuck Currie links a bit despondently to liberal reactions to the speech, including Jan Frel's, who blogs on Alternet:

There's the argument that religion gets more acceptable as it becomes less marginal; that a tolerant, pro-science outfit like the United Church of Christ is a reasonable vehicle for the worship of the Christian God. But ultimately, the insane component -- the God-worshipping component, orchestrated by priests and higher-ups who enjoy playing games of mind control -- is still there. Why cling on to this BS in desperation, I ask?

Sure, the Jehovah's Witnesses have an environmental bent, but it doesn't make the religious component any less crazy. Or, to go to slightly saner grounds, just because Jim Wallis talks about economic justice doesn't make his Christianity any less crazy to me. And, if I remember correctly, he's out in the public sphere because he's a Christian; his positions on various issues are there to burnish his Christian creds.

And that's where we get to an evangelical suck-up like Barack Obama...

After that, it becomes impolite. Other posts in the series include Screw You, Barak Obama.

In the trade, we call this reaction "mixed."

Screw You says Courting any religious stripe results in a government indistinguishable from any Middle Eastern nation ruled by Islamic law, and another blogger asks how is the mention of God even relevant to the duties of a public servant? Why the need to mention God at all? And I'm thinking these guys should get together with Pachacutec, who says

It’s absolutely false that Democrats and progressives disrespect or somehow fail to include people of faith.

Okay then.

UPDATE: Michael Stickings at The Moderate Voice moderately asks What the Hell Is Obama Doing?:

Well, he's criticizing his fellow Democrats for not being open to and respecting people of faith. Indeed, Democrats do not "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people".

First, this isn't true, as Steve Benen says. Yes, Democrats need to do a better job reaching out to, and making sure voters know they're open to and respect, people of faith. But Democrats aren't exactly hardcore secularists who oppose the very presence of religion in the public square. A few of them, perhaps, but at most a small minority of them and certainly not in the leadership....

Michael, let me introduce you to Mr. Screw You Obama and his friends, discussed above. Surf the web, the liberal web, and tell us again how small a minority this is supposed to be.

*An earlier version of this item named Jane Hamsher, the famous Firedoglake firebrand, as the poster. My bad.