Published: June 27, 2009 09:05 pm      

Op-Ed: Exploiting religion is popular

So yet another Washington moral crusader turns out to have feet of clay.

Sen. John Ensign, who has made a career out of pandering to social conservative elements within the Republican Party, admitted last week to having an affair with an aide.

The same aide, by the way, enjoyed pay raises and promotions during the time of the alleged affair -- which may cross the line from tawdry to corrupt.

Ensign was the No. 4 Republican in the Senate, but he gave up his leadership post in the wake of this admission. Regardless of how leadership positions are doled out, you can be sure they will be held by people who are just as determined to tell us how to live our personal lives.

The Nevada senator has been among the Washington meddlers who want to pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage. This intrusion into a matter traditionally left to the states is justified by the argument that action must be taken to protect the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman.

Considering Ensign's current predicament, such statements would be deliciously ironic, if they weren't so pathetic.

I won't pass moral judgment on Ensign. That's up to his wife and family to address. I will, however, pass political judgment. He's a lying hypocrite who talks one way and acts another.

There's plenty of that in politics.

The political left is now giggling over Ensign's plight, while the right seeks to downplay it. In the end, nothing much will change. The same battles will go on.

I have a question. How did America, which supposedly prides itself on the notion of personal liberty -- combined with an innate suspicion of those who wield power -- come to the point where we expect our politicians to act as moral arbiters?

I mean, should we really expect the crowd in Washington or Harrisburg to be guiding us on such matters? Aren't they the ones who need guidance from us?

We make a big mistake when we automatically accept as gospel those who bring up religion to rationalize anything they do. True character is best determined by conduct, rather than words.

Yet people continue to be duped by the likes of Ensign.

And it's not just on gay marriage. There are scams of all sorts, liberal and conservative, out there that the politicians routinely foist on the gullible.

But perhaps the worst are those involving the exploitation of religion. Personally, I always find it sad that a concept which is intended to bind humanity together is used to tear it apart.

This abuse of religion is as old as civilization.

And it's why I'm always suspicious of those who seek to foist their religious views on others, or bend over backward to link religion to more mundane matters.

Despite claims to the contrary, America has a long and constructive tradition of separation of church and state.

There are matters of governance that have nothing to do with faith. Likewise, matters of faith aren't the domain of government.

Injecting religion into government typically diminishes both. Watching the politicians proves that time and again.

Mitchel Olszak writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.