The fine television series 24 has generally done well in withstanding the malignancy of creeping Political Correctness. The show has never been timid when depicting extremist terrorism or the drastic measures that are sometimes required to counter such evil. But, in the finale of the seventh season, the show’s producers lost their resolve, proving that even 24 is not impervious to the subtle lure of insidious PC dogma.

In one of the closing scenes, Jack Bauer is on his deathbed, wrestling with the demons that still taunt him. He has, after all, in the service of protecting his country from unthinkable perils, done things that the more civilized and sensitive among us could never carry out, acts that were often morally reprehensible (such as once executing a friend, Ryan Chappelle, then head of the Counter Terrorism Unit, in order to potentially save the lives of thousands of Americans).

So, as the nerve gas to which he has been exposed slowly steals away his remaining hours, who does Jack reach out to for spiritual comfort, for some sort of absolution? A Catholic priest? A Baptist minister? No. Jack calls upon the Imam from the local mosque. In the context of the storyline, it wasn’t a purely random choice. Jack had earlier aggressively confronted this same Muslim cleric as a link to another Muslim who was suspected to be involved in an imminent terroristic plot. As events unfold, the cleric, initially hostile to his inquisitor, comes to respect Jack Bauer.

It is, therefore, not entirely implausible that Jack would seek out this Muslim as his confessor. But, on the other hand, it would not have been implausible for Jack Bauer to call upon a Christian minister either. Jack’s religious inclinations—if he even has any—have never been revealed. But it’s a safe bet that Jack had never been raised in the Muslim faith. Given his German surname, Jack might very well have been baptized as a Catholic or a Lutheran. Maybe his Christian faith had lapsed. But, when you’re about to cross that final threshold, it’s not inconceivable that you might just want to revisit your own spiritual wellspring and not wade into unfamiliar waters.

In today’s politically correct world, the true evils are Christianity and Judaism. In spite of Islam’s atrocious treatment of women and gays, two of the Left’s most prized victims, this “religion of peace” is tolerated, even coddled, by liberals. (Tolerance is a PC virtue—except when Christians or Jews are in the picture.) Portraying an Evangelical as a buffoon in a sit-com is hilarious. Depicting a Catholic priest as, inevitably, a pedophile is cutting-edge. Scrutinizing a Muslim at an airport is profiling and an outrage.

There’s a chance Jack will survive. His daughter, Kim, is willing to offer her father some of her stem cells. Should we be treated to an eighth season of 24, I wonder if Agent Bauer will now be wearing a kaftan and a kufi prayer cap.

I heard White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mention that, although the president would not be participating in the National Day of Prayer this year, He did “pray every day”. That got me to thinking. Just who does Barry pray to? When one prays, one must be praying to someone. Four possibilities present themselves.

As a professing Christian, Barry, it might be presumed, prays to Jesus…

Barry: Dear Jesus. Please Lord, I need your guidance and wisdom. Lead me in all Thy ways.

Jesus: My son, thou art the one I have chosen—The One, if you prefer—who has been raised up in these Last Days to lead the people, like Moses (and Me and Honest Abe and FDR and JFK and, even, Reagan) before thee, out of the wilderness. You’re doing a great job so far. Reassuring the rest of the world that America was not a Christian nation—brilliant! I’m particularly impressed by your assault on all those little terrorists in the womb. Keep up your holy holocaust, my son. Also, you’re doing a terrific job harassing and marginalizing those whacko Evangelicals—I love that line you came up with, “bitter-clingers”; priceless—who have always been such a pain in the butt and an embarrassment to My Kingdom. Don’t worry, my son, I’ve got your back.

Certain conspiracy theorists insist that Barack Hussein Obama is really a closet-Muslim. I’m not sure I buy that. But, if true, then He might very well be praying to Allah…

Hussein: Allah ahkbar! Allah ahkbar! Allah ahkbar!

Allah: My Son, verily, verily I say unto Thee, Thou art the true Imam Mahdi spoken of by my servant and prophet for this age, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Do not be deceived by my prophet’s diminutive size, simian features or his psychotic babbling. As John The Baptist paved the way for the Prophet Jesus, my Iranian prophet shall pave the way for The Glorious One (You). Just follow Mahmoud’s lead, okay?

Hussein: Allah ahkbar! Allah ahkbar! Allah ahkbar!

Then there’s the remote possibility that Barry is, in fact, God Incarnate Himself. So perhaps His prayer time consists of a dialogue He is having with His Inner Messiah (much like a regular liberal dialogues with his inner child). This is, admittedly, a stretch. But if any uber-narcissist could pull it off, the hubristic Barack Hussein Obama could.

That leaves one final possibility. Could Barry The Devout be praying to the god of this world? I’m not suggesting that He is decorating the White House with pentagrams and candles or practicing Santeria in the Oval Office. In spite of the fact He’s part Kenyan—witchcraft is widely practiced in that country—Barry is just too sophisticated, too centered, to indulge in such uncouth religious expression.

But let’s face it. The Left has always worshipped the god of this world. When your ideology forces you to abandon any notion of a transcendent Deity that holds you morally responsible for your actions, then you’re left with the only alternative, the god who proclaims, “if it feels good, do it!”. As Chesterton put it, when one stops believing in God, one does not believe in nothing; he believes in anything. Or as Sartre formulates, if God is dead, then anything is permitted. Especially the humanistic enterprise to create Heaven on Earth (without any help or interference from a meddling anachronistic God).

From the very beginning the enticement was there: you, too, can be gods! This is the religion that is natural to Barry. Like the Jacobists and the communists before Him, Barack is a True Believer. Like His Bolshevik predecessors, He has pledged to remake the world. Don’t get me wrong. Barry is no Stalinist. His massive ego would never permit that. He is uniquely an Obamanist Who transcends all the previous icons of the Left. When He’s not worshipping Himself, Barack Hussein Obama prays faithfully to the god of this world. No wonder Barry’s decided to diss this year’s National Day of Prayer.