RELIGION is at its best when it is furthest from political power. The power to send armies to war, to rule every aspect of our lives, to tell us what to wear, what to think, what to read – when religion gets hold of that, WATCH OUT! Because trouble will ensue….

So … if what he said is true about religion, no wonder we got into trouble in Iraq. Before invading Iraq, Mr. Bush said he had talked with God about it and heard His voice.

Mr. Bush heard God’s voice? Or, did he hear voices?

There’s a difference there. My wife, who is a psycho-therapist, told me that when a person HEARS VOICES, watch out! That person is “delusional,” and trouble, for sure, will ensue.

IRAQI DEATHS: According to IRAQIBODYCOUNT.ORG, since the 2003 invasion, the documented deaths of INNOCENT Iraqi civilians have now reached the count of 88,812.

If that is true, then we have committed GENOCIDE!!!

Dana Perino answered: “Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position bestowed upon you by your colleagues to make such statements … It is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is absurd and very offensive.”

What a STUPID arrogant woman! Hey, Ms. Perino, truth hurts and can be offensive, but it’s NEVER absurd. Also, have you heard this off-the-cuff remark by Mr. Bush in 2005 when asked how many Iraqi civilians have been killed by our troops?. He said, “So far, we’d killed 30,000 … more or less.”

It’s almost 2008, how many now have we killed?

BECAUSE OF RELIGION, A BOY DIES: Yeah, it’s true. Here in Seattle, a 14-year-old boy died after refusing blood transfusions in his fight against leukemia. The boy objected to receiving blood because it ran counter to his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. A Superior Court Judge affirmed the boy’s right to refuse the treatments because he said the eight-grader was MATURE ENOUGH to make the decision.

That’s kind of weird, I think. At 14, you’re not mature enough to buy cigarettes and liquor, and you’re not mature enough to vote … or even mature enough to have sex, but you’re mature to make that decision to die because of your religion? That’s one of the weirdest things I’ve heard. But Seattle, just like Chicago and California and Florida, has a lot of weirdoes of all kinds.

FOR DEMOCRACY’S SAKE: So as to preserve democracy in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf stepped down from his post as Pakistan’s military commander-in-chief. The following day, he was sworn in as a civilian president.

So as to also preserve democracy here in America, shouldn’t Mr. Bush step down, too, as commander-in-chief?

THE SURGE, A SUCCESS: So the so-called SURGE of U.S. troops in Iraq is working. Violence is down. Casualties are down. ONLY 36 of our troops were killed there last month. Piece of cake. Thirty six? That ain’t nothing. It’s not our children that are getting killed over there. It’s other people’s children. It’s other people’s husbands and wives. It’s other children’s dads and moms. So, why should we care, right?

But as Americans, we, at least, need to ask ourselves the questions Mr. Bush refuses to answer: Is America signing on to keep the peace in Iraq indefinitely? If so, how many American and Iraqi deaths a month would be an acceptable price? IF NOT, what’s the plan for getting out? And do we keep on spending $10 billion a month to maintain this “peace”?

A SHINING MOMENT FOR SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: Last week in my column, I wrote about the CNN/YouTube debate of the goofy GOPs.

But I forgot to mention that Mr. McCain said a couple of things that I truly liked. His stance on TORTURING terrorist suspects is commendable: “DON’T! We are better than those people….”

I also like his stance on immigration. After mentioning the failed effort of the Senate to pass a bill, portions of which included the temporary guest program and the pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already living here in America, Senator McCain said … so very eloquently, I think:

“What we’ve learned is that the American people want the borders enforced. We must secure the borders first. But then … we need to sit down as Americans and recognize these are God’s children as well, and they need some protections under the law and they need some of our love and compassion….”

That little speech was interrupted with a standing ovation. God was mentioned and Christian conservatives loved that little speech.

And, so did I. I am no goofy GOP or a Christian Conservative though. I am a Democrat, but I keep my mind open to Republican ideals.

So, is RELIGION at its best when furthest from politics? Or, is RELIGION a part of American politics and of our daily lives? Is Philip Pullman wrong? What do y’all think? JJ