Book Says Bush Aides Dismissed Christian Allies

Christians often have a sense that they are disrespected by the left (I heard it in Bible class this morning when we were visiting at Troy). I'm sure there is some truth to that feeling with regard to a certain element of the left. However, I'm also sure that that there is a lack of respect for Christians by a significant segment of the right as well. From an article of the same title in the NY Times by David Kirkpatrick:

A former deputy director of the White House office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is charging that many members of the Bush administration privately dismiss its conservative Christian allies as "boorish" and "nuts." The former deputy director, David Kuo, an evangelical Christian conservative, makes the accusations in a newly published memoir, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction" (Free Press), about his frustration with what he described as the meager support and political exploitation of the program. "National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,' ‘out of control,' and just plain ‘goofy,' " Mr. Kuo writes. In an interview, Mr. Kuo's former boss, James Towey, now president of St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., said he had never encountered such cynicism or condescension in the White House, and he disputed many of the assertions in Mr. Kuo's account.

Kuo was on 60 Minutes tonight. The video is here. I wouldn't argue that Christians should have no involvement with politics, though that argument has its merits. I would argue that when the line between faith and politics is as blurred as it is these days, faith is soiled by the relationship between the two.