When politics is paramount, nothing is sacred.

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the U.S. House Minority Leader, joined a San Francisco priest, and other elected officials, in a foot-washing ceremony for immigrants.

Stunningly,

Pelosi also used the occasion to talk about passing HR15 – bipartisan immigration legislation that her office says would “reduce the deficit by nearly $1 trillion, secure our borders, unite our families, protect our workers and provide an earned pathway to citizenship.”

Of course, it is possible that Pelosi was engaging in an actual religious ceremony, but the presence of carefully placed photographers, suitable, and surely non-threatening, immigrants, and the ready press release seem to argue against that possibility.

This is the worst sort of mixture of religion and politics. The gesture drains whatever sacredness that might exist in the religious ritual and stamps it with a pure, unadulterated policy proposition that is not germane to the ritual itself. While it is easy, and appropriate, to be snarky, this is unsurprising.

When you believe in a political gospel, the sacred is profaned for political expedience. This has already happened, it seems, with marriage. Perhaps next Pelosi will take communion while she promotes government subsidies for Napa Valley vineyards. Or, if we are lucky, she will perform a baptism as an argument against off-shore drilling.