To listen to talk radio these days, you’d think that Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago are the same person. They think the same thoughts, and they have the same motivations. And if Obama gets elected, he’s going to advocate for Civil War reparations.

Right. And Mitt Romney was going to spread Mormonism across the U.S. and advocate polygamy. And John Kennedy was going to let the Pope tell him how to run the country. Haven’t we been through this gauntlet enough times that we don’t have to keep rehashing it every election… multiple times?

I guess not.

We’ve got to remember that we live in postmodern times. Just because someone attends a particular church is not necessarily an indication that they believe or practice what that church teaches — at least, not in toto. John Kerry was Catholic, but pro-choice. Bill Clinton was a Baptist, but, well, we all know what Clinton did.

People attend church these days for any number of reasons — because they were raised in that church, because they are rebelling against the church in which they were raised, because they are seeking God or what certain religions are about, because they feel that the church is authentic even if they don’t agree with everything that’s being preached, because it’s politically expedient, because their wife/husband wants to go there, etc. Some people even attend church because they believe the doctrine the church teaches, but that isn’t as prevalent as it once was.

So, I think this whole thing about what church Obama attended and what his pastor said is a big bunch of nothing. He’s denounced the things Rev. Wright said that were extreme and inflammatory. Let’s take him at his word and move on. He’s not Rev. Wright. Rev. Wright isn’t running for President.