It's inappropriate to profane a church during a funeral by talking about politics, according to right-wingers, even if you're echoing the views of the deceased -- but I guess it's always OK to turn a non-sacred space into a church and suggest that those who don't support the Republican Party have turned against God:

Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs did not hesitate to voice his support for President Bush when the two shared the stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville recently, and he said it's because he values Bush's faith and integrity even at a time when the president's popularity is waning nationwide.

"I'm not ashamed to share the stage with our wonderful president," Skaggs said Feb. 1 at the Opry before Bush delivered a speech. "I'm not ashamed to be seen with him. I may not be politically correct. I don't care. I love him. I pray for him. He's God's man for this time."

Skaggs explains what he means in a follow-up interview:

...The connection between the Bible and current events is too vivid to miss, Skaggs said, and Christians should take the time to pay more attention to what certain events mean. His opinion of Bush is closely tied to that outlook, he said.

"We look at him from a biblical perspective, not a worldview. That's the difference that Christians ought to be looking at. Christians ought to be looking at Israel, Christians ought to be looking at the situations that the Bible looks at and talks about and see how all of this plays out," Skaggs said. "Instead of just reading the newspaper or watching CNN or whatever and getting the gloom and doom and that liberal bias that gets slanted against the president, we should be praying, we should be seeking God, we should be looking at the Scriptures because the Scriptures are like reading the news."

What's told in the Bible is Good News, Skaggs said, but it's also insight into what God is doing in the world today. If Christians would read it and ask God to open their minds to His purposes, he said, they'd not be so fearful when negative reports are splattered across the evening news.

"I think you'll have a whole lot more peace in your heart and you won't be so upset with so-called 'illegal wiretaps,'" he said, adding that he believes the president has absolute authority to do whatever it takes to protect the American public in a time of war.

"I don't have anything to hide on my telephone. I'm not out doing illegal things. It's the people that do things in the darkness that are feeling threatened," he said....

In other words, if I'm following this, only the damned think the president lacks the authority to suspend the Fourth Amendment unilaterally. To support constitutional checks on the Executive Branch is to defy God.