This is my last post for the day... It's been a long couple of weeks, and today, I'm about Walberg-ed out. There's other interesting stuff out there, but this is definitely the one worth writing about.

The Battle Creek Enquirer has an... interesting... article about Congressman Walberg's latest venture in Washington.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Tim Walberg joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers who launched an effort today to encourage every American to spend five minutes a week praying for the nation.

"Prayer is good for the soul,'' said Walberg, R-Tipton, a former non-denominational minister. "It forces us to lean on the one who is greater than us.''

The article says "former non-denominational minister," but to me, it sounds like "former" is definitely the wrong word. This is, after all, the same guy who said that "Politics is just another format that can be used as a place of intentional ministry".

The "Prayer Caucus" has a website here, for those interested.

You know, it may very well be that prayer is a good thing. That's fine. But for members of the United States House of Representatives to launch a group intended to encourage that? I don't know, I just feel like maybe there are more tangible things they could be doing. Chances are, there are plenty of Republicans and Democrats praying for their country already (and possibly for different reasons). They're not going to change that.

This group probably won't do anything to increase the number of people praying, and even if it does, is that really the role of our political leaders? I liked this quote from the Enquirer article:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State responded that the lawmakers should "stop meddling in religion and get back to work."

Really, if I've got a theological question, I'm more likely to visit my local priest than call up my representative in Washington, and that's how it should be. Religion has its place, and that's in the privacy of one's own home and community, not in the media spotlight. Walberg should be focused on serving his constituents interests, not reminding us every couple of weeks how religious he is.

All they're doing is getting noticed for being "people of faith," which plays well politically with the conservative base. They're using their faith for political purposes. I find that disgusting.

UPDATE: Some people might not read through to the comments on these posts, which is too bad, considering some of the intelligent, insightful things people say.

This comment, though, absolutely deserved to be promoted to the top:

Fitzy,

He is either using faith for political purposes, as you say, or he is using politics for religious purposes, which he admits.

The former offends me and the latter scares the living hell out of me. Is he a charlatan or a theocrat?

Labels: 110th Congress, Faith and Politics, Issues, Tim Walberg