Gingrich resurfaced recently to talk with Dan Gilgoff, a blogger for U.S. News & World Report. Gilgoff pointed out to Gingrich that he was never known as a big booster of Religious Right causes when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Why the big change?

Replied Gingrich, "I think it's that the overtness of the assault on religious liberty has risen dramatically. It was the 9th Circuit Court's decision [in 2002] that was the last straw." (Gingrich is referring here to the infamous "under God" case.) He added, "It's time to challenge head-on secular domination in the West."

The interview drips with Gingrich's trademark brand of sarcasm. He repeatedly uses the word "secular" as if it were a pornographic term.

"I am very sobered that my grandchildren might live in a secular society that might drive God out of public schools in such a way that they are now antireligious centers of propaganda," he said.

Elsewhere he added, "In the last few years I've decided that we're in a crisis in which the secular state, if allowed, will fundamentally and radically change America against the wishes of most Americans."

Is Gingrich really so dense that he can't grasp that the secular state is one of America's greatest contributions to the world? In some countries, there are people living under the guise of narrow-minded "religious police." These oppressed people yearn for the freedom only secular government can provide. Perhaps Gingrich should talk to some of them.

The funny thing is, we've been down this road before. In 1994, I heard Gingrich speak at the Heritage Foundation on the topic of prayer in public schools. He promised that if he were to become House speaker, he would make a school prayer amendment to the Constitution a top priority.

The speech smacked of political opportunism, just another way to rally religious conservatives to the GOP standard so Gingrich could ascend to high office. And sure enough, once he became speaker, Gingrich quickly handed school prayer project off to U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.), who invited several Religious Right groups to help him write the amendment.

Those groups spent more than a year fighting among themselves over language, eventually emerging with a monstrosity they had the temerity to call a "Religious Freedom Amendment." It was handily rejected by the House in June of 1998.

Later that year, Gingrich fell from grace. He was forced to step down as speaker and resigned his House seat. He laid low for a year or two but would pop up here and there. Now Gingrich is running around with the notorious "Christian nation" propagandist David Barton and has even published a book about our nation's great godly heritage. He has formed a new group called Renewing American Leadership.

Pardon my bluntness, but it looks to me like he's ready to play the Religious Right for saps once again. Will its leaders and members fall for it this time? Probably. Despite his spotty past, Gingrich has remained a popular speaker at Religious Right gatherings.

Part of Gingrich's new crusade, of course, is to save us from those pesky gays who would destroy marriage by seeking the right to get married themselves. Newt as the savior of marriage? That is rich.

Remember, this is the guy who told his first wife he was divorcing her while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer. In 1999, he dumped his second wife for a congressional aide 23 years his junior, a woman who, according to some accounts, he had been involved with since 1993. Newt's so pro-marriage he's had three of them!

In March of 2007, Gingrich admitted his adultery to James Dobson of Focus on the Family. The on-air confession made a big splash in Religious Right circles. Few bothered to point out that Gingrich was cheating on his wife at the same time he was doggedly pursuing President Bill Clinton for his inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

And let's not forget about some of those ethical problems Newt had in 1997. Let's just say mistakes were made.

In light of all of this, I'm really looking forward to hearing Gingrich, backed by his pals in the Religious Right, sternly lecturing the rest of us on morality and ethics.

Start talking, Newt.