Senator and presidential contender Barack Obama spoke to the 50th anniversary convention for the United Church of Christ yesterday. I'll say it again: Politicians shouldn't be making campaign stops in church services or denominational convention -- and that goes for Republicans too.

Church leaders said that the speaking invitation to Mr. Obama was not an endorsement, and they asked audience members not to bring any Obama campaign buttons or signs into the convention center during his speech.

The church’s president, the Rev. John Thomas, told the crowd that the invitation had been made more than a year ago, well before the senator declared his candidacy for president. Mr. Thomas said they wanted someone prominent who could talk about how to apply faith to politics. [emphasis added]

Do you want to bet the political left would have gone absolutely ape if the Southern Baptist Convention had invited Rep. Duncan Hunter to their convention to talk about "how to apply faith to politics?" (Frankly, I think the issue of his run for president is a non sequitir.)

Again, there's silence when the left does it, and cries of "theocracy" and "christofascism" when the right does it.

Of course, in talking about how to apply faith to politics, there's a wrong way and a right way.

Wrong way:

"Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us," the Illinois senator said.

"At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design," according to an advance copy of his speech.

"There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich," Obama said. "I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version."

Right way:

He received one of several standing ovations when he pledged that by the end of a term as president, “I will sign a universal health care bill into law.” And he received sustained applause when he called for closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay and withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Isn't it the least bit curious that the "right way" = Obama's politics and the wrong way = conservative politics?

Frankly, they're both wrong. The Bible says nothing about tax cuts for the rich (or for anyone else). The Bible also doesn't say anything about requiring the government to provide universal health insurance.

Obama claims that conservatives have "hijacked" the faith. Well, that's likely all in the eye of the beholder. An equally credible claim can be made that the liberal left has "hijacked" the faithful in the so-called mainline protestant churches that have decided to ignore inconvenient parts of the Bible in order to be more inclusive.

For every member of the religious right who favors tax cuts not found in the Bible, there's a member of the religious left who favors increased taxes in order to fund social programs -- a role Christ encouraged of Christians and the Church.

Sometimes its political -- not religious. The efforts to connect the two at any cost only serves to bring religion down to the level of politics.

A pox on both their houses.