One Party Under God

I haven't been watching all, or even most, of the presidential debates. I did catch the Democrats' debate last night, though, on MSNBC. While none of the candidates really surprised me by their positions, and I didn't change my judgment of any of them, I was shocked by the last question.

After asking questions pertaining to the war in Iraq, the S-CHIP bill, gas prices, etc., they ended the debate by asking all of the candidates what their favorite bible verse is. I was completely stunned.

How is it possible that anyone could blatantly ask presidential candidates in the United States of America to pass what is essentially a test of how Christian they are? Despite the fact that Republicans have been winning at the voting booth by using "values" issues, is there really a majority in the Democratic party that cares whether the next president is a graduate of Sunday School? They might as well have ended the debate by asking the candidates whether they all believe in fairies.

This is so disturbing to me, and not just based on last night's presidential debate. A couple of weeks ago I was at a public event where the local state Democratic party had a booth set up. I went over to give them a piece of my mind, and saw stacks of flyers for their mayoral candidate. I couldn't help but exclaim, "Are you kidding me? This guy's a Democrat?!?"

I have been seeing campaign ads on tv for this guy where he lists the things he cares about: right to life, prayer in schools, "family values," etc. However, I had no idea this guy was running as a Democrat. I just want to ask, if this guy's a Democrat, what's the difference between the two parties? Doesn't this mean that, in fact, there are no longer two parties? After last night's debate, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that question.