Remember those evangelicals who were trying to start a discussion of global warming? Did you read about them last week and think, Hey, maybe these guys aren't so bad -- maybe evangelicals won't always be in lockstep with the GOP?

Well, pay no attention to them. They're tools of Satan.

At least, that's what God-bothering syndicated columnist and Fox News commentator Cal Thomas says:

Rev. Ted Haggard, president of NAE, says he has become passionate about the issue because he is a scuba diver (but not a scientist) and has seen how "global warming" affects coral reefs. What about passion for Jesus Christ?

... this is a far cry from "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)

The first description of Satan is that he is "subtle." (Genesis 3:1) Another translation says "crafty." Satan tempts to do what seems good....

This is going to be another failed effort that will lead many astray, divert resources from more effective pursuits and leave little of eternal value....

Whew! Glad we cleared that up!

****

Or perhaps I'm being unfair. It turns out that Cal Thomas might not be representative of all Christian conservatives in this -- after all, in the same column he also criticizes the Moral Majority (of which he was a vice president) for being too involved in worldly things. In fact, Thomas is known on the Christian right for questioning some of the political work of Christians:

... Lobbying for cultural change, moreover, "doesn't work" and is "a waste of money," Thomas said. Government lacks the power to solve the real problems of society, which can be addressed only through moral and spiritual renewal from the ground up.

And yet when anti-abortion protesters gather in D.C., Thomas praises them. When the Republican governor of Massachusetts tries to curtail a Harvard stem-cell research program because he finds it "ethically wrong," Thomas approves. When President Bush tells Thomas,

I have said that I don't see how anybody can be President without prayer and a belief in the Almighty, although I'm sure others were able to do so. I think that's an important qualifier, because I'm sure people sat here in the office and felt like they could be President. I recognize that, in my feebleness, I need support from the Almighty, because I believe in an Almighty. And I love the support of the people through prayer...

Thomas, far from being appalled, presses him for his favorite Bible verse.

So, er, what does Cal Thomas really think the proper relationship between religion and politics is? I think it's this: If conservatives win, it's godly. If liberals win, it's Satanic.