It was just a matter of time before we witnessed again the clash of religious supremacies. The coalition of religious conservatives that comprise the Religious Right has been an uneasy mix: notably Conservative Catholics, Protestant fundamentalists, Mormons and the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon. It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. It is also said that all coalitions are by thier very nature, temporary arrangements.

The elevation of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to pope, reminds that it was under his direction that in 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued Dominus Jesus, which stated that non-Catholic Christian churches “are not churches in the proper sense” — among other statements that many mainline and evangelical Christians found insulting at best. There is only one true church, and now Ratzinger heads it.

But Dr. Albert Mohler president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary disagrees with Ratzinger. In 2000 he declared Catholicism to be a “false church” — and now his words are now a big public issue.

The Baptist Press reports that freshman Democratic Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) is challenging his top home state Christian rightist, James Dobson to distance himself from Mohler “for calling the Roman Catholic Church a ‘false church.’” Mohler is on the board of Dobson’s Focus on the Family and the two are appearing together this weekend in the controversial telecast “Justice Sunday.” Publicity materials for the event suggest Democrats and liberals are opponents of “people of faith,” even “anti-Christian” because they oppose some of President Bush’s nominations for the federal bench.

According to The Baptist Press: “I have not encountered any feelings of anti-Catholicism from any of my fellow Senators on either side of the aisle,” Salazar, a Catholic, wrote. “… In contrast, I understand you are helping lead the effort on a national telecast against Democrats in the United States Senate with Dr. Al Mohler, among others. In March of 2000, Dr. Mohler said, ‘I believe that the Roman church is a false church and it teaches a false gospel. And indeed, I believe that the pope himself holds a false and unbiblical office.’”

“Salazar called on Dobson to ‘repudiate’ Mohler’s comments and to distance himself from those who ‘serve to divide the world’s Christian churches against one another.’ At a news conference Salazar also called Focus on the Family’s tactics ‘un-Christian.’ Focus has run advertisements pressuring senators — including Salazar — to stop filibustering nominees.”

“In response to Salazar’s letter, Dobson released a statement calling Mohler a ‘valued member’ of Focus on the Family’s board of directors.”

Meanwhile, the slugfest has broken out in the Colorado media, where Salazar and Dobson are going toe-to-toe.

Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Littwin writes: “Look, it’s not just faith you need to determine that people do occasionally recognize a demagogue when they see one. Or that many Americans know the difference between democracy and theocracy, even if we’re shaky on the original Greek.”

“And you don’t need faith – just a close look – to see the battle over judicial nominations and filibusters in the U.S. Senate is not a war against ‘people of faith.’”

“How presumptuous is the ‘people of faith’ label anyway? Whose faith exactly? Your faith? My faith? The guy who wears his faith on the sleeve of his America-Is-The-Great-Satan T-shirt?”

“Salazar has seen the presumption up close. He’s seen it in full-page ads. He is a devout Catholic, who will tell you he reads the Bible daily and that Focus on the Family has no monopoly on belief.”

“He says it slowly, measuring each word. It’s the punch that surprises you.”

“‘I was attacked,’ Salazar said after landing at DIA [Denver International Airport]Friday afternoon. ‘They took out full-page ads against me. They were on the radio. I don’t think it’s right when they question my faith or the faith of my colleagues because they don’t get their way 100 percent of the time – just 96 percent.’”

The tension between American protestant fundamentalists and Roman Catholicism has a long history, of course. And those seeking to craft a Christian Right political movement have had considerable success in obscuring or minimizing those differences. But the rise of Ratzinger and the impolitic fundamentalism of Mohler shows that the alliance may be more fragile than sometimes meets the eye. The rise of differing, ultimately competing versions of religious supremacism as a driving element in the several main faction of the Christian Right was bound to expose fissures in the coalition at some point.

More importantly, the Justice Sunday controversy, and the attacks on the religious faith of most other Americans may have provided the catalyst for the long overdue fightback from the likes of Democrats like Senator Salazar and the leaders of mainstream protestantism, among others.

Indeed, the controversy has catalyzed outrage in religious communities unaffiliated with the Family Research Council’s narrow brand of Christian Right Republicanism. One expression of that outrage is the rapid organization of Social Justice Sunday April 24th which is billed as a counter to the Christian Right rally. Mainstream protestant leaders who are committed to religious equality and separation of church and state intend to forcefully speak out against the insulting and bigoted statements of the Family Research Council.

This is long over due. But its my sense that this is also just the beginning.