I wanted to comment, in this column, on President Obama’s most recent prime time news conference. Specifically, I wanted to comment on his rather short and to the point response to a rather inane question put to him by one of the reporters present. His response has been criticized by some as angry, and I wanted to express an opinion about presidential expressions of anger, some of which are appropriately verbally pointed, and some of which propel us straight into unwanted and ill-conceived wars.

But I was unclear whether our tax exempt status would allow me to comment with the vigor I felt, so I contacted the “Americans United for Separation of Church and State,” and asked them for a clarification.

I had sent them a copy of the colorful paragraph I had in mind for this column, and they assured me that I could, indeed, use it. The line is drawn fairly specifically at preventing religious and other non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office, or using their resources in partisan campaigns.

“But,” the Communications Assistant reminded me, “there is a reason that the framers of the constitution sought to define the temporal and the secular realms as separate and distinct…”

She is right. We are not all of one accord, politically or in any other way, and we need to use care in using a church forum, either pulpit or newsletter, in airing our own political views. While I think it is very important for church leaders to take a stand on issues, (and for all of us to become less reticent in speaking up about matters that concern us), I am not a political pundit, and this is not a social club. I am a religious leader and this is a (hold on to your seats!) church.

It would be appropriate for me to say that there are times when anger is good and healthy and appropriate when expressed positively. It would be appropriate for me to say that war is usually not the best solution to global conflict. It would not be appropriate for me to have said what I originally thought I would say here today.

As a church, we are about things of the spirit. In our tradition, things of the spirit very much incorporate things of the culture, and of the secular world. But when we speak of those things publicly, as a church, we need to make sure we are speaking in terms of how they touch upon the deeper meanings of life – love, want, connectedness… the human condition.

Darn! I really wanted to vent!