Which party gets to invoke God?

Often, you’ll hear a politician claim to be acting according to what God wants. But God appears to be all over the place on the issues.

Let’s just look at just one religion – the Catholics. Last week, the new pope issued a lengthy vision statement, which among other things, took Capitalism to task for creating an economy that seems to leave more and more people on the margins – a statement with would lead you to believe that God might vote Democratic.

But then, on Sunday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was on Meet the Press lamenting that the Affordable Care Act, which the Church at first supported, covers contraception.

“That’s when we began to worry and draw back and say ‘Mr. President, please, you’re really kind of pushing aside some of your greatest supporters.’ That, sadly, is what happened.”

Sounds like God might in fact be a Republican, but not so fast.

“On immigration, we’re saying to the House of Representatives, which is dominated by the Republicans is, ‘You guys have got to get your act together. This is the best chance we’ve had at fair and just immigration reform. It’s in your lap and we’re not going to let you off the hook,'” said Dolan.

So which is it? Which party can rightly invoke God?
I think the answer to that came at the end of the interview when Cardinal was asked what his mindset is during the holiday season.

“I think it comes down to humility. That prompts us, literally, to fall to our knees and to say thank you,” said Dolan. “It also reminds us that we’re not the center of the universe. It’s not about me.”

Well, if that’s true – that God puts premium on humility – we’ve all seen political campaigns. How could any politician of any party have the nerve to invoke Him?