During the four years I was on The Roanoke Times' editorial board, one of my dreaded required rituals was proofing Cal Thomas' column each week.

Thomas is a conservative columnist whose work read more like the predictable regurgitation of a party line rather than his own personal and reflective thought. He too often saw the world in stark black and white, with no consideration for shades of gray. Thomas is a man of faith, and my readers know I have no problem with that. But his work seemed to reflect a man who wore his faith on his sleeve, and I do have a problem with that.

So imagine my surprise this week when I read his column telling his evangelical brothers and sisters to get over their fixation with a religious litmus test for presidential candidates! An excerpt:

"This election should be more about competence and less about ideology, or even faith. It shouldn't matter where — or if — a candidate goes to church, but whether he (or she) can run the country well, according to the principles in which the voter believes. And, if those principles include a person of faith, so much the better. God can be the ultimate check-and-balance on earthly power.

"If a car hits me, I care more about whether the ambulance driver knows the way to the nearest hospital and the skills of the emergency room doctor than where they stand with God. That's the attitude we should have toward those who desire to be president of the United States in a fallen world."

Man, talk about about your Saul of Tarsus, Road to Damascus conversion. I'm not holding my breath that Thomas has seen the light, as Saul (later Paul) did and will expand his mind a bit more on matters social.

Thomas' column was sparked in light of the criticism of Mitt Romney making his case with the public about his Mormon faith. The cynic in me thinks Cal may be preparing the way to give Romney his nod. Let's face it: What's more palatable to the Republican base? A Mormon, a Catholic in Giuiliani who has had three wives and supports choice and gays or a Southern Baptist minister in Huckabee whose words keep biting him in the butt?

Whatever Thomas' reasoning, he had the guts for once to speak up and tell his evangelical admirers to take a chill pill.

My only question is, why didn't Thomas write this column in 2000? And if necessary, again in 2004?

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• Posted by Shanna Flowers in State & national issues
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