A recent Al Jazeera commentary piece by Random Lengths News senior editor Paul Rosenberg has provoked a discussion on “Dominionism” and the influence of the religious right on Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry:

Bachmann and Perry are associated with a movement called Christian dominionism. Rosenberg called to task the mainstream media for what he perceives as a failure to understand the depth to which dominionism would control either Bachmann’s or Perry’s policies if elected. In Rosenberg’s view, people are afraid to question the relationship between evangelical beliefs or extreme evangelical beliefs and the world view and political agenda of a candidate. If we say that an evangelical would be incapable of respecting our Constitutional protection of all faiths, we are accused of being anti-Christian and persecuting them. Rosenberg is calling for a “serious discussion” of the issues. It is not just the GOP presidential candidates whose views need to be examined, but the governors and legislatures of several states as well.

Rosenberg has been contributing to Al Jazeera English since May.