For a little perspective on Fr. Pfleger, this from the New Republic’s blog. From Pfleger and Wright to Hagree and Parsley, it’s clear that the traditional role of religion in American electoral politics has been profoundly unsettled. It used to be that the object of the exercise was for the candidate to be seen receiving the priestly blessing, the Good Churchgoing Seal of Approval, from some appropriately benign clerical figure, often named Billy Graham.
Now, the Republican Party has led us into the Land of Prophets, when associations and endorsements are supposed to come down from those who want to deliver the prophetic afflatus. But by tradition, the prophet sits uneasily with those who would hold the reins of power. Just ask Saul about Samuel, or David about Nathan. One thing worth noting about George W. Bush: He’s pretty much kept his distance from the hortatory characters on the religious right, preferring instead to cultivate the T.D. Jakeses and Kirbyjon Caldwells of this world, at least in public. Perhaps he figured this out while working the religion angle for his pop during the 1988 campaign. I never thought I’d say it, but in this regard the president’s approach may be worth a little emulation.