Today's NYT got me thinking about politics & religion.
Putting God Back in Politics
An overwhelming majority of Americans consider themselves to be religious. Yet according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, people who attend church more than once a week vote Republican by 63 percent to 37 percent; people who seldom or never attend vote Democratic by 62 percent to 38 percent.
For too many Democrats, faith is private and has no implications for political life. But what kind of faith is that? Where would America be if the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had kept his faith to himself?
Howard Dean, the leading challenger to President Bush, illustrates the Democrats' problem. Dr. Dean recently said he left his church in Vermont over a dispute about a bike path, and explained that his faith does not inform his politics. He has also said the presidential race should stay away from the issues of "guns, God and gays" and focus on jobs, health care and foreign policy.
By framing the issue in this way -- declining to discuss overtly "religious" topics -- Dr. Dean allows Republicans to define the terms of the debate. The "religious issues" in this election will be reduced to the Ten Commandments in public courthouses, marriage amendments, prayer in schools and, of course, abortion.
However, the author seems to have missed Dean's recent mid-course correction on this issue.
Boston Globe
Just how much Dean will inject religion into his campaign, Hess said, remains to be seen. He pointed to an appearance at an African-American church in Columbia, S.C., as an example of what voters might hear in the future.
There, before nearly 100 parishioners, Dean said in a rhythmic tone notably different from his usual stampede through policy points, ''In this house of the Lord, we know that the power rests in God's hands and in Jesus's hands for helping us. But the power also is on this, God's earth -- Remember Jesus said, `Render unto God those things that are God's but unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's,' '' a reference to Jesus's admonition that the secular and religious remain separate.
Dean continued: ''In this political season there is also other power. Not as important or as strong as the power of Jesus but it's important power in the world of politics and the world of Caesar.''
There is a group of strongly Christian Dean supporters who are watching carefully
Christians For Dean
A week ago, Newsweek political writer Howard Fineman made a correct prediction on The Chris Matthews show: Howard Dean would be attacked by rivals as being too secular to appeal to mainstream America. The Kerry-Gephardt-Lieberman gang have no traction on anything else, so now they will question a man's religious sincerity and insinuate he's too "secular."
A week later, Lieberman fulfilled this prophecy. The New York Times on December 23rd reported it this way: "Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut called on Tuesday for strengthening the role of religion in public life and took a veiled swipe at Howard Dean, who has run a steadfastly secular campaign."
A day later, Dean remarked to the Boston Globe that his faith in Christ has indeed influenced his ideals, saying that ''Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind,'' Dean said.
The response: Dean opponents and conservative media have attacked Dean for adopting a new "Jesus strategy" or pandering to Southern religious people.
Personally I think an honest discussion of the subject will be to Dean's benefit. He'll never convert the rabid pro-life people but it may close some distance in the south unless it is perceived as pandering. What do you think?