Evangelical Realism

Cal Thomas has a column at Townhall.com in which he responds to George W. Bush’s remarks (reported here) about Muslims and Christians worshipping the same God. In a nutshell, Thomas gives the president a stern rebuke.

It is one thing to try to reach out to moderate and sincerely peaceful Muslims. It is quite another to say the claims of your own faith are of no greater importance than the often contradictory claims of another faith. If we all worship the same God, the president should answer the call of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden, convert to Islam and no longer be a target of their wrath. What difference would it make if we all worship the same God?

Ow, that has to hurt. You think Thomas might be close to getting an inkling about why separation of church and state is a good idea? Who wants a theologian like Bush defining what Christian doctrine is? Thomas clearly doesn’t. No sane person should. But that’s what we’ll get if we turn America into a “Christian nation”. In the 2,000 year history of the Christian church, not once has the yoking together of church and state failed to produce a church that is politicized, corrupt, and and doctrinally perverse. It’s why the colonists originally came to the New World in the first place–to escape from the “Christian nations” of Europe. But somehow they never learn. If only they had a wise, omniscient Spiritual Being to speak to their hearts and counsel them against making the same mistake yet again…