God in politics

God's Politics blogger Jim Wallis discusses this topic in today's entry. He talks about how we can talk about morality without discounting everyone who doesn't beleive exactly like we do.

I also insist that political appeals, even if rooted in religious convictions, be argued on moral grounds, rather than as sectarian religious demands – so that the people (citizens), whether religious or not, have the capacity to hear and respond. Religion must be disciplined by democracy and contribute to a better and more moral public discourse. Religious convictions must therefore be translated into moral arguments, which must win the political debate if they are to be implemented. Religious people don't get to win just because they are religious (in a nation that is often claimed to be Judeo-Christian). They, like any other citizens, have to convince their fellow citizens that what they propose is best for the common good – for all of us and not just the religious.
Or, as Sen. Barack Obama put it at our 2006 Pentecost conference: "Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason."

He goes on to say

I criticize the president's theology as a Christian, in part because that is how he seeks to justify his policies. But then I argue my political points in the public square on the basis of a morally-based public policy. The two are complementary, not contradictory.