For a country that boasts of “Separation of Church and State,” supposedly keeping religion out of State business, the 2008 Presidential Campaign seems to be centering on the Pastors associated with the candidates.

By now, I’m confident the entire world knows of the gaffes uttered by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Pastor to Democrat Candidate and Senator from the State of Illinois, Barack Obama for some 20 years and who has repeatedly condemned the very country the junior Senator hopes to be able to lead. To be expected, conservatives in America have latched onto the controversy to hurt the campaign of Obama.

The junior Senator has tried to distance himself from the controversial Reverend, but it keeps coming back to haunt him in this campaign. Even Reverend Wright came out lately saying Obama had only distanced himself from the minister for political reasons.

The Senators Wife, Michelle said recently that it’s time for her husband’s campaign to move forward from the controversy and return the focus to issues, declining to discuss it with interviewers further.

Howard Dean, former 2004 candidate in the run for the presidency that year and Chairman of the Democratic Party, tried much the same track today on the Fox News Sunday show when interviewer and host, Chris Wallace questioned, “has the Reverend Wright controversy made Obama radioactive among Democratic candidates down ticket?”

Dr. Dean replied, “I’m not going to get into the Reverend Wright at all. I think we’ve spent enough time on Reverend Wright,” adding, “for the last 30 years, the Republican book is to race bait and to use hate and divisiveness.”

Queried if he was suggesting that mentioning Reverend Wright was “race baiting,” Dean answered, “Yeah, I am suggesting that kind of stuff.”

Reminded that just last week, Senator Obama said the Wright controversy was a legitimate campaign issue, Dean replied, “Well, he can say whatever he wants. I’m going to say whatever I want. I’m not getting into Reverend Wright. He’s caused enough trouble for our country over the last several weeks.”

How Reverend Wright may respond to that last charge, if at all, remains to be seen.

Curious is that while members of the Democrat Party try to play down the Reverend Wright Controversy and “move on,” they now are also trying desperately to divert attention away by bringing up some less than savory comments of Pastors that have supported the presumed Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, who disavowed a controversial advertisement showing the Reverends comments in North Carolina a couple weeks ago.

One, John Hagee, called the Roman Catholic Church “the great whore.” Another, Rod Parsley, referred to Islam as a “false religion” that America was called on to destroy.

Senator McCain attends neither Church nor makes those claims himself, unlike Senator Obama who was a member of Reverend Wrights Church for the past 20 years. Still, controversial left-wing groups like Moveon.org state,

“McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.””

For what is worth, it was during the Ohio Primary Campaign that McCain referred to Rod Parsely as “a Spiritual Guide,” not “my Spiritual Guide.” It should also be noted that during his 2000 bid for the presidency, McCain referred to two other prominent Pastors, Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance,” for their expressions of similar views.

McCain’s campaign has released a statement saying,

“Parsley is not and never has been the spiritual guide for McCain, who attends the North Phoenix Baptist Church.”

Sitting back and watching all this unfold is New York Senator and former First lady, Hillary Clinton, who made faith an issue in the campaign when her campaign issued a memo highlighting her “strong Methodist family and childhood, the principles of the Methodist church were the guiding light of her life, she learned the value and power of prayer at an early age, her faith is deeply personal and real and she often finds inspiration from scripture.”

As of yet, no controversial Pastor has emerged in regards to Senator Clinton, although claims are made that her “unsavory religious affiliations make her more vulnerable than Obama.”

Reflecting back on this on going insertion of religious affiliations of the candidates, I feel it is more like a movie short of the Three Stooges than a Political Campaign.

I shudder to think of what people from other lands watching must think.