Finally, Wickham argued:

The president's job is not to rid the world of the Bible's Beelzebub but rather the worldly devils that afflict us. It is to properly handle the difficult issues of war and peace, to manage the domestic affairs of this great melting pot, and to ensure this country's longstanding guarantee of religious freedom — and protect its commitment to a secular government. CNN did these causes a great disservice by giving a leader of just one of this nation's religious faiths a platform to influence the outcome of the coming presidential election.

There is much in that paragraph to unpack, but the central issue here is Wickham's definition of a "secular government."  The Saddleback Civil Forum revealed once again that government must necessarily deal with many decidedly "unsecular" questions.  These two candidates were not forced into this conversation, they embraced it.  Once there, they had to answer the questions.

Neither candidate is seeking to be the new vicar of Saddleback.  Instead, both are running for the highest political office in the land.  As both candidates were reminded Saturday night, that means there are certain questions you just can't duck.

A CNN transcript of the Saddleback event is available here.

In addition to being one of Salem’s nationally syndicated radio talk show hosts, R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky and recognized as one of America’s leading theologians and cultural commentators. Contact Dr. Mohler at mail@albertmohler.com.