Let's Talk Politics and Religion!
"This is a Judeo-Christian valued nation."
Senator John McCain(1)
"Senator Barack Obama said Tuesday (July 1) that if elected president he would expand the delivery of social services through churches......"(2)
Although we can prohibit the promulgation of religious beliefs by government agencies, such as the public schools, the connection between politics and religion in this country is not going away anytime soon.
Religion impinges upon politics in two distinct ways:
First, sharing of religious faith establishes a bond of kinship between a candidate and a group of voters. For example,the support of Catholic voters was a key factor in John Kennedy's victories in both the 1960 primaries and the general election. By the same token, I feel drawn to Jewish candidates such as Herb Kohl, Russ Feingold, and Joe Lieberman, even though there is considerable difference in religious practice between these three men.
Moreover, the attitudes of many Americans on "hot button" issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage are rooted in religious beliefs. Groups such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition were created to channel the votes of devout Christians into the Republican Party, using these issues. The victories of Ronald Reagan and both President Bushes were due, in part, to the support of religious conservatives. In 2008, the initial success of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in Republican caucuses and primaries was also due to their support.
In 2000 John McCain lashed out at the "bigotry" of rightwing clergymen who sank his candidacy in the South Carolina Republican primary. But this year, the Arizona senator mended his relationship with the fundamentalist clergy, even meeting with Rev. Billy Graham and his son Franklin. However, McCain has repudiated the support of Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley, both of whom have made offensive comments about adherents of other religions.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama has famously repudiated the support of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, whose crackpot sermons he had endured for about twenty years, when Wright became a political liability with white voters. I think that Obama is, and always was, a secularist at heart who found it advantageous to join the biggest church in the neighborhood in which he launched his political career. Had he been seeking elective office in a Catholic neighborhood, he might have found the late Pope John Paul II irresistible and embraced the Roman creed. Obama has been target of persistent (false) rumors that he is secretly a Muslim, but that would imply that he really is motivated by religious belief, which is dubious.
Although it is entirely benign for politicians to hold religious beliefs, as their faith may evoke the more honest and benevolent impulses in their psyches, I believe that their public association with preachers is bad----both for their candidacies and for the public . This is because it is the job of preachers (including rabbis) to extol the righteousness of their own doctrine and denounce rival doctrines as heresy. Politicians, on the other hand, are successful to the extent that they can establish a broad base of support, including voters of widely differing opinions. For a politician, compromise is the key to forging a majority and getting results; for a preacher, compromise is selling-out to Satan.
Although playing the religion card in American politics is overwhelmingly aimed at Christian voters, there are also many Jews who will blindly follow the recommendation of their rabbi in the voting booth. As you might have guessed, I am not among them. There are legions of rabbis who know far more than I ever will about Torah and mitzvos, but there are none to whose judgment I would defer about what is best for my community, state, or country.
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(1) Speaking at Kalamazoo Christian High School, Jan.14, 2008
(2) NY Times News Service, July 2, 2008
Senator John McCain(1)
"Senator Barack Obama said Tuesday (July 1) that if elected president he would expand the delivery of social services through churches......"(2)
Although we can prohibit the promulgation of religious beliefs by government agencies, such as the public schools, the connection between politics and religion in this country is not going away anytime soon.
Religion impinges upon politics in two distinct ways:
First, sharing of religious faith establishes a bond of kinship between a candidate and a group of voters. For example,the support of Catholic voters was a key factor in John Kennedy's victories in both the 1960 primaries and the general election. By the same token, I feel drawn to Jewish candidates such as Herb Kohl, Russ Feingold, and Joe Lieberman, even though there is considerable difference in religious practice between these three men.
Moreover, the attitudes of many Americans on "hot button" issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage are rooted in religious beliefs. Groups such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition were created to channel the votes of devout Christians into the Republican Party, using these issues. The victories of Ronald Reagan and both President Bushes were due, in part, to the support of religious conservatives. In 2008, the initial success of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in Republican caucuses and primaries was also due to their support.
In 2000 John McCain lashed out at the "bigotry" of rightwing clergymen who sank his candidacy in the South Carolina Republican primary. But this year, the Arizona senator mended his relationship with the fundamentalist clergy, even meeting with Rev. Billy Graham and his son Franklin. However, McCain has repudiated the support of Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley, both of whom have made offensive comments about adherents of other religions.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama has famously repudiated the support of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, whose crackpot sermons he had endured for about twenty years, when Wright became a political liability with white voters. I think that Obama is, and always was, a secularist at heart who found it advantageous to join the biggest church in the neighborhood in which he launched his political career. Had he been seeking elective office in a Catholic neighborhood, he might have found the late Pope John Paul II irresistible and embraced the Roman creed. Obama has been target of persistent (false) rumors that he is secretly a Muslim, but that would imply that he really is motivated by religious belief, which is dubious.
Although it is entirely benign for politicians to hold religious beliefs, as their faith may evoke the more honest and benevolent impulses in their psyches, I believe that their public association with preachers is bad----both for their candidacies and for the public . This is because it is the job of preachers (including rabbis) to extol the righteousness of their own doctrine and denounce rival doctrines as heresy. Politicians, on the other hand, are successful to the extent that they can establish a broad base of support, including voters of widely differing opinions. For a politician, compromise is the key to forging a majority and getting results; for a preacher, compromise is selling-out to Satan.
Although playing the religion card in American politics is overwhelmingly aimed at Christian voters, there are also many Jews who will blindly follow the recommendation of their rabbi in the voting booth. As you might have guessed, I am not among them. There are legions of rabbis who know far more than I ever will about Torah and mitzvos, but there are none to whose judgment I would defer about what is best for my community, state, or country.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Speaking at Kalamazoo Christian High School, Jan.14, 2008
(2) NY Times News Service, July 2, 2008
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 9:36 AM
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