There is a lot of attention paid to John Kerry's religious habits: where he goes to church, when he goes to church, and whether he receives communion or not. Is it interesting that similar attention is paid to the religious habits of George W. Bush? What about Republican Catholics who are pro-choice?

Amy Sullivan writes for Gadflyer that Bush apparently doesn't go to church regularly, but she has heard some clever excuses for why:

Among the reasons I've been given is that the security precautions would be too onerous. ... I'd almost buy it, if not for the fact that for several years in the late 1990s, I attended Foundry Methodist Church when the Clintons were members there and found that it took all of an extra five seconds to pass through the metal detectors and enter the church. Parishioners were not outnumbered by tourists (and, in any case, we were happy that they were in church, no matter what the reason) and the Clintons played an active role in the life of the church, with Chelsea particularly involved in the choir and youth group while she was still in town.

Okay, Bush's defenders say, but even if he did go to church, it's tough for a president to be really involved with a congregation. He is, after all, running the free world. But, then again, he has spent almost 500 days on vacation over the past four years. You'd think some of that time could have been devoted to planning the next church social or sitting in on mission board meetings. Jimmy Carter found time to teach Sunday School at a local Baptist church while he was president.

The last excuse, though, is my favorite. The fact that the president doesn't attend church, I was told last week, is proof of what a good Christian he is. Unlike other certain past presidents we could name but won't -- ahem, cough, BILL CLINTON -- Bush doesn't feel the need to prove how religious he is by attending church. I don't mean to sound like a naïf -- I do realize that most presidential actions have political motivations. But it's just possible that attending church (or not) has nothing to do with trying to show the world how religious you are. It's just possible that they attend church (or not) because they want to.

Technically speaking, it really shouldn't matter if Bush goes to church or not, how often he goes to church, or even if he is the slightest bit religious. Bush, however, has made religion and religious faith central components of his presidency and his ideas about America. He has argued that religion and religious groups are necessary for us to solve America's social problems - so necessary, in fact, that he wants to spend large amounts of government money to helps those religious groups. Shouldn't we wonder, then, what religious groups he belongs to and is active in?

Amy Sullivan argues that we should and I agree with her on this. If the press is going to make a big deal about Kerry receiving communion, they should make just as big of a deal about Bush's absence from any religious services whatsoever.

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