I’ve just finished reading the conference’s “keynote address” by Illinois Senator Barack Obama. I have read many speeches by many politicians talking about religion. Too many of them are either self-congratulatory or naked pandering to a particular audience. Barack’s speech is neither; and it’s one of the best examinations I’ve read of the political consequences of failing to understand the role of religion in the lives of most Americans.

Barack talks movingly about his own personal religious journey and how he came to organized religion late in his life:

I … came to realize that something was missing - that without a vessel for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart and alone.

He speaks about the need to address social problems on multiple levels:

Solving these problems will require changes in government policy; it will also require changes in hearts and minds. I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manufacturer's lobby - but I also believe that when a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd because he feels somebody disrespected him, we have a problem of morality; there's a hole in that young man's heart - a hole that government programs alone cannot fix.

He makes a powerful case for the separation of church and state:

[Leaders of the Religious Right need to] understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice. That during our founding, it was not the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of this separation; it was the persecuted religious minorities, Baptists like John Leland, who were most concerned that any state-sponsored religion might hinder their ability to practice their faith.

And offers some thoughtful criticism to those of us who sometimes view church/state issues in black and white terms:

Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters. It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase "under God;" I certainly didn't. Having voluntary student prayer groups using school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats. And one can envision certain faith-based programs - targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers - that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems.

Don’t let reading these excerpts lull you into thinking you don’t need to read this whole speech. You do need to read it – as do every one of Senator Barack’s colleagues on Capitol Hill.