False advisers

The mind-numbing game of “which presidential candidate has the craziest religious leader” has begun! And it looks like it will not end anytime soon. Oh ... it’s going to be a long year. \nBoth Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have come under scrutiny this past week because their religious mentors have said some shockingly stupid things. Obama’s pastor and long-time friend Reverend Jeremiah Wright embarrassed Obama by making what some have called very unpatriotic and outlandish remarks. The problem is even worse for McCain. McCain’s “spiritual adviser,” Rod Parsley, is coming under fire for comments he made about Islam, prosecuting adulterers and comparing Planned Parenthood to the Nazis. McCain also refuses to denounce an endorsement by supporter John Hagee, who once said Hurricane Katrina was an act of God caused by New Orleans’ “level of sin.”\nIf ignorance is bliss, these men must already be living in heaven.\nReligious leaders have a long and terrible history of saying incredibly stupid things, stuff that most sane people would never think of saying, and, yet, because of their faith, they have traditionally been immune from strong criticism that other professional communicators receive.\nLast year, Don Imus got in trouble for calling members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team a derogatory name. He got canned. But a religious leader can blame the natural disasters and terrorists attacks on gays and pagans or they can call for the destruction of another religion, and escape professionally unscathed. Why are presidential candidates letting these types of men advise and endorse them?\nHere’s what politicians should do: ditch religious “advisers” or “mentors.” They’re not necessary. Wouldn’t that be liberating for all of us? We would not have to hear on the news anymore about how some influential preacher says New Orleans was destroyed by God because of its sin. We would not have to listen to influential men of faith blaming the Sept. 11 attacks on homosexuals and pagans. McCain would not have to defend the abject stupidity of Parsley, who thinks that America was founded, in part, “with the intention of seeing this false religion (Islam) destroyed.” We don’t need to hear this nonsense, and there is no reason that men like Parsley, Hagee, Pat Robertson and others like them should enjoy such influence among politicians. Neither politicians nor citizens are any better off because of it.\nOf course, idiotic and hateful statements are by no means monopolized by religious leaders. While trying to reach out to evangelicals by having a “spiritual adviser” such as Billy Graham or Parsley may win over some voters, doing so only seems to bring more headaches thanks to the unending absurdity that is sure to follow. If politicians continue to try to sell themselves as religious and moral by flaunting their ties with religious leaders, they will certainly have to spend a large amount of their time denouncing or worrying about the unending idiotic statements made by their “spiritual advisers.” Politicians do not need to listen to this nonsense, and neither do we.