Most Important Trends in Religion and Politics

David Gibson at Politics Daily has a trenchant column about the most important trends in religion and politics. As a bonus, he compares the lists of important events of 2010 compiled by publications on the left and the right. With respect to trends, he discusses the declining power of Christian conservatives, the popularity of the view that the United States is a divinely inspired nation, the demonization of American Muslims, the failed reelection of pro-life Democrats making compromise on the abortion issue unlikely, the division among conservatives on issues concerning gays and their lack of staying power as  political issues, the extent to which the political power of issues about sex arises from their ease of comprehension as opposed to the complexity of economic issues (I doubt this), the perplexing inability of officials in the Catholic Church to speak about the sex abuse issue in a way that does not further offend and the speaking about condoms in a way that has sparked debate and confusion, and what Mark Shields calls a Mae West election, "Between two evils, I always pick the one, I never tried before."