Culture Briefs

Character matters

“Like it or not, religion matters in presidential politics. But rarely in our history has it mattered so much as it does in the 2008 campaign. …

“Personally, I don’t like religious tests — official or otherwise — because religious affiliation should not determine a person’s qualifications for public office. But having said that, I do think the public has every right to inquire about the religious or philosophical views of candidates in a presidential race. After all, voters want to know the sources of values and convictions that would shape a president’s decisions. …

“The real test should not be religious affiliation, but rather the character and judgment necessary to lead at this difficult time in our history. Abraham Lincoln, after all, belonged to no church. But his moral compass served the nation well.”

— Charles C. Haynes, writing on “When we choose a president, should religion matter?” March 30 at the First Amendment Center

Richer than we think

“During the early ’90s, the media, both secular and religious, convinced a large percentage of Americans that our $5 trillion federal debt was of earth-shaking proportions.

“As Americans were living on about $25,000 on average in 1990, it is easy to see how that $5 trillion number could look like a giant in the promised land. … It might be good to again put such large numbers into perspective.

“In its 2009 budget, recently released, the Office of Management and Budget in the White House estimated the total assets of America to be $120.4 trillion at the end of 2007. We owed foreigners $8.3 trillion. That means our ’net wealth’ was $112.1 trillion.

“Moral? Like the ancient Hebrews, we have two options: 1.) We can listen to gloomy spies who have surveyed the promised land and turn toward forty years of wandering in the desert, or 2.) we can ’number’ our assets — or count our blessings — as Moses did when he was headed for that promised land. It’s largely a matter of choice … and leadership.”

— Gary Moore, writing on “The Bigger Picture,” March 31 in the Trinity Forum

Wisdom comes

“The baby-boom generation in America is thought to have found something approaching genuine happiness in material possessions. A popular bumper sticker back in the 1980s read, ’He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins.’

“This was thought to be a brilliant encapsulation of the baby-boom generation’s shallowness, greed, excessive competitiveness, and love of possessions. And it may well be all of these things. It’s also fundamentally wrong.

“Is there anything in the Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue — or even listed on Realtor.com — for which you would give up five years? Of course not. That sports car may be to die for, but in fact you wouldn’t. What good are the toys if you’re dead? ’He Who Dies Last’ — he’s the one who wins.”

— Michael Kinsley, writing on “Mine Is Longer Than Yours:The last boomer game,” April 7 in the New Yorker