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But Obama also warned, "Whatever we once were, we are not a Christian nation." He wondered, "Besides, even if we expelled all non-Christians from America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Likewise, Obama worried about religionists who make political arguments based exclusively on their faith rather than reason. "This is difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible as many Evangelicals do," Obama said. "To base our policy on such commitments would be dangerous."

JIM WALLIS GAVE OBAMA the "Joseph Award," named after the biblical patriarch. But the "Amos Award" was reserved for Marian Wright Edelman, for her Old Testament style prophetic witness as the matriarch of the Children's Defense Fund, which sees the federal government as the only reliable parent for children everywhere.

With her usual gusto, Edelman ploughed into Republicans for perpetuating war at the expense of "the children." "You see how quickly they [Congress] can go to war," she complained. "They [Congress] can find billions to give tax cuts to millionaires." Edelman demanded: "No more budget cuts for the poor and tax cuts for the rich." She called for prompt action by Congress in expanding the federal programs she favors: "We need to do this NOW!"

Supposedly quoting anti-Nazi martyr Diedrich Bonhoeffer, Edelman declared: "You can judge a nation by its treatment of children." (The actual quote from Bonhoeffer appears to have been: "The moral test of a nation is how it educates its children.") America under the Republicans, of course, is failing that test. She wants socialized medicine, more gun control, and a "National Disaster Policy" to care for all affected by hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

More bizarrely, Edelman adopted the persona of abolitionist Sojourner Truth and began to speak in an attempted slave accent. Ostensibly the old escaped slave woman spoke of social problems as "weasels." Channeling the spirit of the Underground Railroad's most celebrated conductor, Edelman named today's "big weasels" that are, she believes, embedded in the U.S. Constitution. These constitutional weasels include the "Special Interest Weasel," the "Greedy Military Weasel," the "Robin Hood in Reverse Weasel," and the "Only Right Way to God Weasel."

As Edelman explained, the "Special Interest Weasel" robs poor children of government funding. The "Greedy Military Weasel" steals from the hungry by demanding money for arms. The "Robin Hood in Reverse Weasel" justifies taking from the poor to give to the rich.

In her description of the "Only Right Way to God Weasel," Edelman claimed, without further explanation, that the Constitution has permitted religious conservatives to control American religion.

"God sent the angel to Mary, Joseph, and Muhammad," Edelman declared as a rebuttal to these religious exclusionists. "We are all God's children."

Edelman did not explain how the Constitution should prohibit conservative Christians and others from making exclusive truth claims about their religion. Nor did she explain which schizophrenic "angel" was visiting both the parents of Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad.

But Edelman was an appropriate icon for Jim Wallis' "Pentecost 2006," in which it is not the Holy Ghost but big government who visits the church of liberal religion, for which politics and not religious dogma are the most important guideposts.

topics:
Health Care, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Religion, Abortion, Environment, Constitution, Law, Military, NATO