The Real Loser at the Pastor Rick-Quisition: America

Discussion of whether John McCain or Barack Obama "won" Saturday’s Saddleback inquisition misses the point, Kathleen Parker writes in the Washington Post. When the presidential candidates are publicly interrogated on their beliefs by a minister, even one as exemplary as Rick Warren, the only winner is the minister—and the biggest loser is America.

"Both Obama and McCain gave 'good' answers," on their beliefs, Parker writes," but that's not the point. They shouldn't have been asked." Parker notes that Thomas Jefferson, a strong advocate of the separation of church and state, would likely have "lost" at Saddleback with sayings such as: "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." (More Barack Obama stories.)