No ballots for you, Bible-thumpers!

The chronicler of Minnesota's fictional Lake Woebegone has taken up a new cause in the aftermath of November 2: disenfranchising born-again Christians. At a speech in Chicago on November 7, he put forth his modest proposal to widen the gulf between church and state:

The famed author, host, and wry wit of A Prairie Home Companion, started [his remarks] by commenting on election results.

“I am a Democrat—it’s no secret. I am a museum-quality Democrat,” Keillor said. “Last night I spent my time crouched in a fetal position, rolling around and moaning in the dark.

”Not one to shy away from speaking his mind, Keillor proposed a solution to what he deemed a fundamental problem with U.S. elections. “I’m trying to organize support for a constitutional amendment to deny voting rights to born-again Christians,” Keillor smirked. “I feel if your citizenship is in Heaven—like a born again Christian’s is—you should give up your citizenship. Sorry, but this is my new cause. If born again Christians are allowed to vote in this country, then why not Canadians?”

A day eariler  on his radio proram a day earlier, Keillor made similar comments on his radio program, as Powerline reports:

We're over it. We've moved on. We're just fine. The election was days ago. Days ago. Much has happened since then. We've practically forgotten about it here [laughter] in our rush to enter into new activities, new frontiers, new projects.  I am now the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to take the right to vote away from born-again Christians.  [enthusiastic audience applause]  Just a little project of mine. My feeling is that born-again people are citizens of heaven, that is where there citizenship is, [laughter] is in heaven, it's not here among us in America.  If you feel that war in the Middle East is simply prophecy fulfilled, if you believe that tribulation and suffering are just the natural conditions of life, if you believe that higher education is vanity, unnecessary, there is only one book that one need to read, if you feel that unemployment is -[glitch]- dependent on him and drawn you closer to him. [laughter] If you feel -[glitch]- lousy healthcare is a portal to paradise, [applause] then you don't really share our same interests, do you? No, you do not.

This is perhaps one of the more eqregious examples of what John Hinderacker of Powerline (quoting The Minneapolis Star-Tribune) calls "post-election trash talk."  Judging from some of the comments on Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion web site, not all of his listeners are amused by his quixotic new crusade. And no doubt it will help re-kindle the debate about taxpayer funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

It raises an interesting question, however: Should someone who lives in a fictional community be  able to claim citizenship in a reality-based one?