JJ I'm in my early forties, I was alive in the sixties just like you, don't be so defensive all the time. I was trying to say there are cultural differences and valid reasons for why it may be harder for african americans to separate the roles of church and state than some of the rest of us can. It is going to take years, decades maybe even centuries for many african americans to overcome the images of those years gone by, of corrupt, racist government and government officials. To get to the point where they think they can trust government enough to be the primary protector of their community. So it is reasonable to think that maybe Francis Holland has this perspective, and if he does, and if because of this he values a candidate who is more openly Christian than one who is not, can you blame him?

The role of the church is obviously greater in civic affairs not just in african american communities, but in rural communities, than it is up here in the big city. The peoples in these areas, as I am sure you know full well, are far more reluctant to fully accept complete separation of church and state, or a totally reduced role for the church. Democrats need to respect their views. This doesn't mean Democrats need to become theocrats and carry around bibles. It means they need simply to respect these peoples' perspectives, and not scream out in fear when a candidate goes into a black church or a rural church. Republicans have put across democrats in national elections as mean and radical and anti-people of faith. It is the sort of impression you get when you read boards like this where people scream at even the site of a democrat in church. We need to fight those impressions. We as Democrats need to show that we respect all peoples of all faiths, that we value the perspectives that come from their faiths, and that we want their faiths to be part of our great quilt that we will use to keep this country warm.

I believe one of Barack Obama's great strengths is that he wants to reach out to all these different groups and show respect and empathy. He speaks out against hate and intolerance. We can respect and learn from each other even if we don't agree with everything. We don't need to call each other fucktards.