With Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger using religion not as an instrument of "faith" to enlighten and enrich our lives, but as a cudgel to fulfill their political agendas (or popularity) -- it is good to see some more inspiring examples of faith.
While I often find myself disagreeing with Michael Gerson's brand of "compassionate conservatism," in light of Wright and Pflerger, Gerson's column on Tony Blair is, indeed, refreshing:
"... Religion, Blair argues, is not going away, as secularists have expected and predicated for centuries. For millions, he noted in his Westminster speech, it is 'the motive for their behavior, the thing which gives sense to their lives and purpose to their journeys -- which makes life more than just a sparrow's flight through a lighted hall from one darkness to another, in that memorable image of the Venerable Bede.' While religion may sometimes be a source of conflict, it has often been a source of reform and idealism -- as in the fight against slavery, apartheid and genocide. The goal of his faith foundation, he explained to me, is for the major faiths "to work together against injustice rather than prey -- that's p-r-e-y -- on injustice."