I wonder what Gore thinks about Obama's faith?

By Sharon Hughes

A few years ago I wrote about Al Gore's criticism of George W. Bush's faith. I found it so fascinating then that a former Vice President of the United States would condemn a current President's religious belief.

I find it almost as fascinating today that the still very vocal VP hasn't remarked on the current President's religion at all. It's not as if there hasn't been anything to remark on regarding Barack Obama's religious views.

What are we to make of this? Or should we make anything of it at all?

Here's what I wrote about Gore and Bush's faith:

I remember years ago seeing Al Gore on television promoting his book, Earth in the Balance — Ecology and the Human Spirit, and Tipper talking about her concern of the effects rock and roll music was having on teenagers. Back then, before he was Vice President, they talked about themselves as being born again Southern Baptist Christians. However, after reading Al Gore's comments in the New Yorker magazine about George W. Bush's faith, it appears things have changed.

As reported by David Remnick in the article, "And yet the Bush ideology is tinged with religious belief, I said. Not everything comes with a price tag attached. Gore's mouth tightened...he clearly had disdain for Bush's public kind of faith. 'It's a particular kind of religiosity,' he said. 'It's the American version of the same fundamentalist impulse that we see in Saudi Arabia, in Kashmir...'" Read more of Remnick's article.

Wow.

Remnick goes on to report, "We passed the Southern Baptist Convention building... I asked him which church in Nashville he and Tipper attended now. There was a pause in the front seat. 'We're ecumenical now,' Gore said, finally. Tipper said with a laugh, 'I think I follow Baba Ram Dass.' 'The influx of fundamentalist preachers have pretty much chased us out with their right-wing politics,' Gore added."

But, I wonder if it was the right-wing politics, or his own politics. In his book, Earth in the Balance — Ecology and the Human Spirit, again written when he claimed the Christian faith, he wrote this: "Our religious heritage is based on a single earth goddess (Mother Gaia) who is assumed to be the fountain of all life...All men have a god within. Each man has a god within because creation is god. Nature in its fullness is god."

Seems to me that Obama's recent public remarks regarding religion (e.g. comments in Turkey, "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation"), would fit Gore's religious worldview and warrant his applause. But I didn't hear anything, did you?

Then again, perhaps he has commented on Obama's faith and the media just didn't report it. If that's the case, why would that be? I mean, it's not like the mainstream media doesn't report 'positive' remarks about presidents and religion. After all they reported Chris Matthews' comments, "I've been following politics since I was about 5. I've never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament..."

Can you see my tongue in my cheek?

© Sharon Hughes