COMPLAINT: Does taste sour to reader

In spite of Rep. Ed Morse’s (June 8 Press) disclaimer that his election loss is not sour grapes, it’s sour grapes. Yes, pastors (and churches) are legally allowed to distribute candidate surveys and incumbent voting records, educate members of the public about viewpoints of candidates, discuss church doctrine pertaining to candidate views, etc. There’s a whole list of these rights available from the Liberty Counsel and The American Center for Law and Justice. Many pastors are too timid to push these rights, but they’re there nevertheless.

Unless we lapse into “freedom FROM religion” distortions, it is impossible to utterly and totally divorce religion from politics. Anyone who actually believes his or her faith lives it. It drives how such a person behaves in any and all arenas. Complete separation is possible only for the casual “believer” who is perfectly willing to compromise core tenets in favor of the Gospel of Rodney King: “Can’t we all just get along?” By the way, when is politics going to get out of religion?

As for the accompanying editorial gratuitously tying the Aryan Nations into the argument, that’s just shameful and unworthy of the Coeur d’Alene Press.

HANS NEUMANN

Spirit Lake