Obama defends his stance on Christian right 'hijacking faith'

Kudos for Obama. I still am not decided on which of the candidates I prefer, but Obama is at least saying some of the right things and, unlike the Christianists and the Chimperator, is in touch with reality.

Democratic Senator and 2008 presidential hopeful Barack Obama defended his criticisms of conservative Christian leaders in an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody.

"When you have pastors and television pundits who appear to explicitly coordinate with one political party; when you're implying that your fellow Americans are traitors, terrorist sympathizers or akin to the devil himself; then I think you're attempting to hijack the faith of those who follow you for your own personal or political ends," the freshman Illinois Senator said at The Brody File.

"[S]omewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together...Faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked," the New York Times reported.

The Senator also argued to Brody that America is not a 'Christian nation.' "For my friends on the right, I think it would be helpful to remember the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy but also our religious practice," Obama wrote to Brody, pointing to early American leaders who fought to include the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. He went on, "Whatever we once were, we're no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of non-believers."

I am sure Daddy Dobson is breathing fire at being called the lying, disingenuous bigot that he is.