Mags says: BARACK COULD HAVE ASKED HIS ELDERS

In case you hadn't heard, for what it's worth, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is now officially the most liked Democrat, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, with a "likeability" score of 58.8. (If you're trying to figure out what it's worth, consider that our Barack was handily out-"likeabled" by Rudy Giuliani--yes, Rudy Giuliani--who scored a monster 64.2. Any poll that finds Rudy the most "likeable" of any group of people is probably crying for a recount.)

And as has been widely reported--and debated--Obama has been invited by Pastor Rick Warren to speak this weekend at the Saddlebrook Church's second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church, prompting howls from the left and the right.

Mags has some thoughts to share with the senator:

Barack Obama could have asked one of us oldsters to get his bearings on the evangelical-Democratic connection if indeed there needs to be one. (To be honest, it is more accurate not to call the religious right "evangelical," because there are many evangelicals who should be insulted to be lumped together with the religionists who call themselves evangelicals and fundamentalists these days.)

But Barack, being the overachieving youngster he is, decided to go full speed ahead. Poor kid decided to accept an invitation from Rick Warren (of Purpose Driven Life fame) to speak at the Saddleback Church in California.

What's the problem? In spite of the fact that Obama chided Democrats in 2004 for not being Christian enough, and did the same as recently as June 2006 (in a keynote speech to Call to Renewal's "Building a Covenant for a New America" conference), it turns out that Barack is not Christian enough for the Christians either. In fact, some of them are telling him that he is downright evil. I am sure he didn't have a clue as to the state of his damned soul, but there it is on the Internet, so it must be true. A Christian commentator said so. (Blogger Howling Latina provides a helpful rundown of Obama's perceived sins.)

What many people do not understand about the religious right is that they did not get where they are today by being inclusive. The older you get, the more you realize that people like being exclusive. Look, the rich tried it long ago and liked it in the form of country clubs. Now the poor can do it in the form of self-righteous religionism. It only follows--everyone wants to be special, and even better if one can claim the hotline to heaven. Name-dropping God is the biggest of all.

Now that the religionists have latched onto abortion and gay marriage as all-purpose dogmas, they are unlikely to let either one go anytime soon. Abortion is such a useful issue. They get the emotional impact of calling women and physicians baby-killers, and they get to insert themselves (pun intended) into the reproductive lives (read sex lives) of women. Look, judgment is not just for the Taliban anymore. U.S. men and women have decided they like being involved in your morality of lack of it.

These two exclusions are easy. The rules are simple. No nuance. No exceptions. No mercy. Pastor Ted will be able to tell you all about it.

Sorry, Barack, they do not want your kind of Christianity. They have spent decades being particular, and now that the Republicans have financed and used this segment of our population by rewarding their ignorance and their diminished ability to think logically with political clout, well, let's just say they are not open to you or your kind of outreach.

Here is the down low on this. The stalwarts will not change. There is no motivation to change. They are the most special of the most special. They have religious leaders to tell them exactly what is right and wrong, thus simplifying their lives and relieving them of the rational fears with which we all must grapple. They have a community within a bubble. There are no other reference points. They reinforce each other, no matter how insane, no matter what reality tells them. Like a dysfunctional family, they will allow no outsiders in. They might hear the truth or something they will later have to explain to their flock. Too much risk in letting the outside in.

We could have told you that, Barack. But you assumed that no one had ever tried to start a discourse with the right wing. Your smugness about your religion as opposed to us godless leftists just did not pay off. You will learn the lesson George Bush learned. If you do not cater to them on all points, then you are not welcome among them. They will shun their own for much less.

This might be your bump in the road. Popularity and good looks do not a president make. Don't believe everything the media tells you about why elections are won or lost. Next time you take your elders to task, as you did in 2004, check out the reality on the ground. We cannot afford to rearrange the basics of freedom for these people. If you aren't going to sell out women and gays, they don't want you. If you are, we won't want you.

Give the Pastor Teds and some other disgruntled right-wingers time to do the work. Let the Jesus Camps speak for themselves, and let the world march on without these people. Let them discover how corrupt their leaders are, and how bankrupt their philosophies are. A little more time, experience, and soul-searching might be of value to both you and the religious right.