Dobson and Obama defenders are fuming about this. I can see both sides, to some degree. Obama clearly has a poor understanding of Scripture (or should I say, a mainline-denomination-influenced view of Scripture). Whether he’s intentionally obfuscating the issue of how to apply Scripture to our lives remains to be seen; I suppose one’s view on that will be informed by the level of cynicism toward Obama in general.

On the other hand, Dobson’s expectation of Obama (and politicians in general) of actually understanding Biblical Christianity and its relationship to civics in general—and American democracy in particular—seems too high. Oh, a politician twisting Scripture for his own political ends? Big suprise!

As far as the other issue at hand—pluralism—squashed makes a good point: arguing for or against policy on religious grounds is perfectly acceptable, although more may be required to build a consensus.