A Pastoral Symphony

Nothing would please me more than to see this national discussion about religion and pastors come to a merciful conclusion. Soon.

And, in the future, I'm going to do what I can to avoid mentioning the subject here.

But Frank Rich's column in today's New York Times should be read by everyone. It doesn't matter if you support Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, or you're undecided.

The column, headlined "The All-White Elephant in the Room," observes that not just Obama's pastor has been guilty of "clerical jive."

Rich points out that a "a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee," who endorsed McCain's candidacy when former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee was still in the race, has made several "outrageous statements" -- including the assertion that "God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins.”

(If Hagee was correct and the hurricane was God's punishment, that punishment was aided by the Bush administration's feeble response to the emergency.)

And, as Rich further observes, Hagee made this statement more than once.

McCain, as Rich says, claims he does not agree with Hagee, just as Obama says he does not agree with his former pastor. The distinction between McCain and Obama, Rich says, "boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church."

That's true. But it's also true, as Rich mentions, that the case for this distinction is "thin," to say the least.

"That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement," Rich says. "In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive 'holy war' with Iran."

Rich goes on to point out that McCain said, two weeks ago, that "while he condemns any 'anti-anything' remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still 'glad to have his endorsement.'"

And, in what is perhaps a more telling observation about McCain, faith, and (as Rich calls them) "wacky white preachers," Rich writes that "virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright’s fiery claim that 9/11 was America’s chickens 'coming home to roost.'

"That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America’s abortionists, feminists, gays and ACLU lawyers. ... Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers 'agents of intolerance' and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006."

Rich acknowledges that "[i]t is entirely fair for any voter to weigh Mr. Obama’s long relationship with his pastor in assessing his fitness for office. It is also fair to weigh Mr. Obama’s judgment in handling this personal and political crisis as it has repeatedly boiled over.

"But whatever that verdict, it is disingenuous to pretend that there isn’t a double standard operating here. If we’re to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates -- and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them -- we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick."

If Obama wins the nomination, it is essential that he make that argument in the campaign against McCain.

If he fails to do so, he is, indeed, too naive to be president (more naive than John Kerry was in failing to adequately respond to the swift boat attacks four years ago) and will be deserving of the defeat that awaits him.