For the past three decades, the religious right has largely been the public face of Christianity in America. Televangelists such as Rev. Jerry Falwell, James Dobson and Rev. Pat Robertson became household names by relentlessly presenting a rigid form of conservative theology. Their rise was aided by the emergence of talk radio and cable television -- which served as huge mega-phones -- and GOP leaders who blessed them as "the base." In recent years, the moral authority of the right has been weakened by numerous political and sex scandals -- Sen. Larry Craig, Rev. Ted Haggard, Rep. Mark Foley and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, to name a few. Widespread disenchantment with George W. Bush, the right's one-time savior, has also damaged the conservative brand. The right's relative decline has finally opened the door for mainstream religious leaders to challenge dogmatic interpretations of the Bible. Into this war over "The Word" stepped Barack Obama, a churchgoer who can communicate with religious voters in a way a politician like former Democratic nominee John Kerry never could. Obama's rare platform to present an alternative version of Christianity posed a direct threat to the religious right. This explains the tirade by Focus on the Family's founder James Dobson, who attacked Obama for a speech he gave on religion, saying that Obama "distorted" the Bible. While the spotlight is on Obama's beliefs, the mainstream media has failed to exam ...
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