I mix religion and politics every day when I thank God that the United States has a two-term limit for the office of President.

Aside from that secret vice, I adhere to the precepts stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, so I was filled with trepidation last Saturday when I sat down to listen to the so-called "debate" between Senator Obama and Senator McCain hosted by Pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church in Orange County.

Though I had heard of Rick Warren's books, I was unaware of the extent of his church's connections with the media, nor was I aware of his discipleship to management guru Peter Drucker.  No matter how warm and fuzzy his religious message might be, this was truly a man with an agenda.

It seems Pastor Rick has a passel of supporters, (his books sold over 25 million copies) as well as legions of detractors. Without a doubt, many of his adversaries appear to be other pastors from even more conservative religious right persuasions, so I guess jealousy has a hand in some of the negative tracts I encountered.

But still I had to ask...how had Pastor Rick done it.... who gave him the go ahead to coerce these two candidates into spilling their guts about their personal religious convictions?  This encounter is unprecedented in American politics and it does not bode well for the preservation of the separation between church and state. 

I tried to watch with an open mind as first Obama, and then McCain subjected themselves to Pastor Rick's questions. If there was a good outcome, at least Obama's declaration of faith, honed in years of attending a Baptist Church, should lay to rest any discussion of his being a Muslim.  Aside from that, I could see no real value in the remaining hour and 45 minutes of the show. Basically Obama gave complex and philosophical answers to complex issues and McCain generally gave short, knee jerk but semi-effective sound bite answers to complex issues. 

One time when McCain broke his two-word answer rule, was when Warren asked him which of the Supreme Court justices he would not have approved.  McCain listed Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer, in other words, every single non-conservative justice on the court...so much for a balance among the top judiciary body of our country.

Whenever the camera covered the audience response to the answers, I was amazed at the stony faces that stared back at the candidates, particularly Obama. That is not to say he didn't receive some warm response to a few of his comments, but the audience did seem to respond more enthusiastically to McCain's jingoism.

Who is this audience?  What motivates people to attend mega-churches to find their spiritual core?  A lot of them seem to be in their 30's and 40's and 50's so perhaps they were weaned on rock concerts held in football stadium and got hooked on that catharsis that occurs when you are part of 70,000 people rocking to the same music.  In any case the mega churches seem to fit the same  "cult of personality" afforded to rock stars, because there is always one male leader who is the disseminator of the truth as he sees it.    

I wonder what would have happened if the Episcopal, Catholic, LDS, Methodist, Lutheran, or Presbyterian Leaders had desired a "litmus test" Q and A of the Candidates.  What would have happened if the millions of Americans who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu wanted to hold their own gauntlet of questions? I am still unclear as to how Rick Warren earned the mantle of  "Religious Rep" for the rest of us.  To hear the secular  "pundits" on Fox who  "rated the contestants" right after the show, it might as well have been American Idol, another Fox show.

Call me crazy, but somehow I think the candidates and we deserve better.