“Christian nation” is supposed by some to mean “a country where the law of land does not contradict Christian precepts.”

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“If I had served my God as diligently as I did my king, He would not have given me over in my grey hairs." I cannot help but think of this death bed declaration of the Renaissance English Cardinal Wolsey in searching for a comment on the passing of Reverend Jerry Falwell. I wonder if the famous televangelist asked the same of his dedication to the Republican Party when going to meet his Maker.

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I don’t believe God is some kind of a Wizard of Oz who is puppeteering behind a cosmic curtain. I have moved beyond the simplistic theodicy that the evil of war negates the existence of God. I also don’t have a univocal mind, so I remain unmoved by silly, unfounded statements like “Religion is the cause of all wars.”

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Senator Hillary Clinton struck just the right note for the Democratic Party this week by saying she was a believer who did not “wear her religion on her sleeve.” That seems to be the principle difference between most Democrats and most Republicans these days. It is also a chief distinguishing trait between most Christian believers and most Evangelicals.

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Whether or not Catholicism is the “fullest expression” becomes a question with two parts: first, “Is this true that Catholicism has this privileged place?” and second: “What does this statement do to ecumenical relations?”

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“No” the problems of 2007 in the Middle East are not based on religion; rather, these are the results of bad politics. Doubters will howl in protest at my answer, but then some people still believe that the Protestant Reformation was mainly a religious event and not a wrenching sociological change in 15th century Europe.

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