Yesterday, when I read up on Sarah Palin's church and her whackjob extremist beliefs, I couldn't get too worked up about it.

After all, we were treated to such a healthy dose of "God Hates John Kerry!" in 2004, it's easy to get complacent. Was I surprised to read that: During the 2004 election season, he praised President Bush's performance during a debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal candidate preferences. "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry." Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time"?

Or that Kalnins asserted, "I hate criticisms towards the President," he said, "because it's like criticisms towards the pastor — it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you"?

No. Not really.

But then I thought about all the stupid, unnecessary hubbub surrounding Jeremiah Wright earlier this year, and I thought, well, frak it. Let's all get good and annoyed!

In our PC universe, it's tempting to think that the separation of church and state is a good way to keep everyone happy and un-offended. It's easier to forget the bigger truth - religion and politics muck eachother up something terrible!

Divine right? Un-American. Manifest Destiny? Un-American. The humility-eschewing rise to fame that is becoming a political candidate? Un-Christian. Favoring the will of the majority over the Will of God? Un-Christian.

And so on, and so on, and so on.

It's interesting - and I'm not using that word in a snarky way; it really does interest me - that Americans are faced with a choice on Sunday mornings: attend church, or watch political talk shows. And with reports coming from right and left (mostly right) about what is actually discussed in churches, these two options don't seem so conflictual after all.

Being more of a Meet the Press woman, I'm not about to lament the fact that politics seem to be, well, winning, if you want to think of church and state as any sort of contest. (And I don't, but it seems headed that way.) But I do want to point out that the very insertion of religion into politics by the religious community seems to be the main contributor.

So, is it appropriate to question the judgment, if not the salvation, of a person of faith who focuses more on a couple of elections than all of eternity? I'm hoping it's a question that will get as much play as Rev. Wright's unique speaking style, but I'm not too optimistic.