The Washington Post's Richard Cohen just reams Mike Huckabee yesterday for waging a religiously intolerant campaign against Mitt Romney.
Cohen criticisms swerve, wildly at times, from the good (Huckabee's trying to capitalize on religious intolerance) to the just plain absurd (Huckabee has done more damage than any other Republican candidate running).
But what really piqued my interest is this Cohen assertion:
Religion does not belong in the political arena. It does not lend itself to compromise. It is about belief, not reason, and is ordinarily immutable.
It's astounding that people do not recognize that Cohen's precise reasons why religious belief shouldn't be raised in the political arena are exactly why it should be. Read on....
Compromise and the ability to change one's mind should be defining characteristics from our commander-in-chief. Aren't these the two traits President Bush lacks? Isn't that why Americans are paying for a failed war in Iraq and an uncomfortable economic situation?
What Cohen fails to see, as do too many Americans, is that all beliefs - religious, spiritual, and philosophical - should be fair game for debate and questioning.
Religious beliefs of any persuasion shouldn't get a free pass. Would an atheist be so lucky if she had the gumption to run for our nation's highest office, strike that, any office?
The only reason Romney is facing the situation he is now is that Mormonism is a freaky, irrational belief system created by a known charlatan. Yes traditional Christianity has whoppers of its own, but familiarity breeds content and while hypocritical, it's something Romney and all other minorities - believers and non-believers alike - just have to deal with.
