I can’t forbear writing this today.

Frank Bruni has a fine piece in today’s New York Times about Michelle Bachman. After noting several recent occasions on which Bachmann has behaved in a way that hardly seems to acord with the teachings of Jesus, particularly her recent attempt to smear Huma Abedin, Bruni explains that his

aim . . . isn’t to re-litigate Bachmann’s crimes against reason and decency, all widely documented.

It’s to wonder why we accept her descriptions of herself, and in turn describe her, as a deeply religious woman. That grants too much credence to her particular, peculiar and highly selective definition of piety. And it offends the many admirable people of faith whose understanding and practice of religion aren’t, like hers, confrontational and small-minded.

Bruni then suggests, qute rightly I think, that widespread use of clichéd expression the religious right does a disservice to sincere people of faith by inplicitly suggesting that “a seriously faithful person is most likely to land on just one end of the political spectrum.”

Bruni then devotes several paragraphs to expressions of faith by religious liberals, including the recent Nuns on the Bus tour of the country to call attention to issues of social justice. “So maybe it’s time for annotations,” he writes finally.

Most of us distinguish, rightly, between Muslim extremists and other followers of Islam. Perhaps we should start noting the difference between Christians of real compassion and those of exclusionary spite.

I don’t want to cast aspersions on anyone’s faith, but I do think that for many on the political right religion is identity politics. And I further think that among those who practice their faith primarily as identity politics there is a growing group of real bottom feeders. Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind, though its failure to appear at the Aurora prayer vigil is refreshing.

But there are a good many others who have spoken from pulpits of one kind or another about the Aurora mass murders. Jerry Newcombe and Fred Jackson attributed the murders to public policies they don’t like, and Newcombe has said that the victims who weren’t Christians will go to hell. Rick Warren tweeted that the murders were caused by teaching about evolution and then deleted the tweet. Mike Huckabee claimed that the murders were caused by godlessness in schools.

I think Americans should repudiate this sort of thinking. People of faith should repudiate it whether they are on the religious right or the religious left politically. These ideas belong in the theological trash heap, and they demean our politics.