So who exactly is it, then, who has the "right" to be involved in politics? Just politicians? Lawyers? The media, perhaps? But "religious leaders?" How dare they! Last time I read it, the US Constitution didn't say that when you take up the clergy, you give up your citizenship. It is hardly a violation of church and state for religious leaders to speak their minds about political issues. Quite the opposite: they're the last people on earth who should ever, ever, ever be complacent or quieted by a worldly status quo. It's particularly worth noting that today, the status quo is failing miserably in its ability to create peace on earth.

I don't usually agree with right-wing Christians about politics. Gay marriage? I find it abhorrent to think that the power of the US government would be used to officially limit the rights of any group of Americans. Whether or not a gay couple gets married, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." Abortion rights? I think abortion is a choice between a woman and her God, and the government shouldn't even be in on that conversation. They could slow down the process -- demanding a time of reflection -- and that would be okay with me, but not have the right to stop it. But if Rick Warren wants to go to Syria and meet with its President, then God bless him. He should do whatever he wants to do. Condoleeza Rice won't go there. And such behavior on her part hardly makes me sleep better at night.

The problem here is not that religious people are messing with politics; the problem is that politicians are messing with religious people. I think perhaps we need to make something clear. The point of religion is that it answers to a Higher Power; its loyalty is to God. Religious people might not always agree on what God is asking of us, but that is not the point. Spiritual leaders are leaders too. Political leaders are the not the only kind of leaders, nor should their voices be the only ones that affect the affairs of the world today. What traditional politics is offering us is in fact not working, and perhaps it is the religious people among us who should if anything be pointing that out.

Terrorism is a spiritual darkness; it is a mass psychosis. People who know how to lead groups in prayer and collective meditations, people who have expertise in healing hearts and minds and relationships, people who know about dismantling insane behavioral patterns -- such as these have at least as much to offer in response to terrorism, as do people who know how to drop bombs. Killing a terrorist does not of itself kill terrorism. If worldly might is our only response to the problem, then that problem is going to devour us.

If Rick Warren, or anyone else for that matter, has a better idea for how to handle Syria, or Iran, or any other nation -- even if I don't agree with it -- unless it hurts someone, then I hope he or she shouts it from the rooftops. As they do, the false idol of politics as usual might actually fall away, and that would be fine. As the saying goes, "War is far too serious a business to be left in the hands of politicians and generals." Don't go quiet, Rick. If anything, push back -- and do not back down.