A Goddess By Any Other Name....

Allison Hantschel, aka as Athenae, (thus the goddess in the title of the post) at First Draft blog and I worked together with a group of bloggers - the First Draft Krewe - from different parts of the country, gutting a house in the Gentilly area in New Orleans. She is as smart and funny in person as she is on the blog, and she's quite attractive, too. While we were in New Orleans, it was not all work. We played a bit, too.

One gracious couple from the city invited us to their home for a crawfish boil. Allison arrived wearing - WAIT! - a smart black dress. That was the only time IN MY WHOLE LIFE - and you know I am old - that I have ever seen a woman arrive at a crawfish boil wearing a smart black dress. When you peel the hard shell off the crawfish the juice inside often goes SPLAT! - on your own clothes, on the clothes of the person across from you, or even on a person a good distance away from you. If you go into a restaurant to eat boiled crawfish, a member of the staff will give you a large bib to tie around your neck. I'm ashamed to say that I teased poor Allison unmercifully about her smart, black dress at the crawfish boil.

She can do a rant about the members of the Bush maladministration like no one else I know. In addition to her work on the blog, she is a published writer. She has published books, and she writes columns for the South Town Star in Chicago. In her latest article she talks about her unease with the religious litmus tests that candidates for public office are called upon to pass in these crazy days. I share Allison's unease.

Tim Russert asks about the candidates' favorite Bible verse. A questioner from the audience holds up a Bible and asks if the candidate believes every word in the book. Mitt Romney plans to give a speech on the effect that his Mormon faith will have on his presidency, should he be elected. How did we get to this place in our politics?

Allison says:

The interjection of religion into politics has never, in the history of the world, ended well for any populace that tried it; one has only to have a cursory knowledge of the Crusades to realize that. And just because it's become customary for presidential wannabes to venerate Christianity doesn't mean it should be comfortable.

Amen to that!

In the first place, if a president wishes to demonstrate faith, there are thousands of ways to do so other than with his mouth, into a microphone. He can do so, as former President Jimmy Carter has, with his hands and a hammer, building homes for the poor. He can do so, as Franklin Roosevelt did, with his work, lifting the country out of economic despair.

Really, though, it's irrelevant. We are not electing a national priest, nor, thank whatever gods exist, a national parent responsible for teaching us in the ways of his or her ancestors.

The words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi come to mind, "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary." If you are a Christian candidate or a Mormon Candidate, don't blather on about it. Show us by the way you live your life how your faith will help make you a good president for all of the people, but especially for the least among us.

Allison asks what Bush's Christianity counts for in the disaster that is Iraq. What does his Christianity matter to those who were abandoned after Katrina?

She's right. We're electing a president, not a "national priest".