WASHINGTON -- The American left has always had a simple view of religious people and politics. If they are liberal, welcome. If they aren't, be gone. So it seems to be with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman.
People of faith have played a critical role in U.S. politics since the nation's founding. Even in our more secular age, people of faith -- Christians, Jews and others -- have played a leading role in such political crusades as the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. For these, leftwing politicians and journalists laid a red carpet.
But in the 1970s religious conservatives -- fundamentalists and Southern Baptists, for instance -- began to enter the political realm. And they wanted (gasp!) to protect the unborn, teach moral values in school and protect their families from Washington social engineers. For the left, this was beyond the pale: Religion obviously had no place in public life.