I mostly kind of like Ellen Goodman for her warm and soft liberalism. And her Preaching in politics op-ed seemed mostly on the mark, but still managed to leave me a tiny bit uneasy. Mostly, it’s a fine if predictable bit about how right-wing Amerikkka has co-opted the language of religion and the moral force it has for many, in contrast to the kind of use religious motivations were put to by, say, M. L. King. I’m fine with that; obviously, those motivations ain’t nothin to me; but I think lefties who do believe can and should legitimately remind the right that the left’s moral callings to help the less fortunate and discourage the call to greed are probably far more in touch with the explicit morality of actual Xianity (as espoused by, say, the Pope, or the Bible’s “Jesus” character) than the right’s social-darwinistic pro-greed moral priggishness.

But she seems to bemoan “the difficulty the left has in linking religion, morality, and politics”, quoting Jim Wallis of Call to Renewal who says, “If the Republicans are too controlled by religious fundamentalists, Democrats are too controlled by secular fundamentalists”, and George Lakoff (yeah, the linguist) as saying liberals tongue-tied on morality: “If you ask most liberals, `What do you believe about morality?’ they don’t know what to say.” Both of those claims are pretty much obvious bullshit, but she quotes them positively. And then she gives us the backhanded

I confess that I too am uncomfortable with political preachers. The sounds of religion ring warily in ears accustomed to hearing them from the far right. At the same time, I want to know that the man in the White House has a coherent moral framework that guides him and guides us.

Fine; me too. But she’s shading a little close to “and that means linking it with God”, even though she does acknowledge that “A president doesn’t have to be religious to be moral. You don’t need to be godly to be good.” Let’s talk about our moral obligation to fairness, to help the less fortunate, and to encourage charity and tolerance rather than greed and tight-assed righteousness. But leave it us to decide whether the moral ground for that lies in moral reason or our all being God’s chillin’.