Religion and politics in the American election | June 06, 2008
Dear IRFWP reader. Below is an RNS article examining the impact that religious and pastoral endorsements have had on the US presidential contest so far.
The article accurately identifies the mark of a shift in the relationship between politicians and clergy that will remain permanent. The sure decline in the religious and political hand in glove is not nefarious, signs of rising secularism, or cause for hand-wringing among lovers of God.
Personally I see two problems that revealed themselves through the chaotic missteps in the religious and political relationships that have littered this political season thus far.
1. The relationship is wrong. This is not to say there should NOT be a relationship, politicians should be religious and religious leaders should invest in the politics of their land. It is to say that these paired responsibilities have not until now taken on the proper form and order.
2. Religious leaders are parochial, not inclusive. All the leaders who caused their candidates of choice were exposed not for a higher inclusive vision but rather for their division. It was the proneness and intensity of againstness that forced the breaches the politicians were eventually forced to declare.
Please read through this RNS article below. Then please offer IRFWP dot org your views and understanding. You may do so in the poll below, but please consider writing your views at length here (<-- click). We will post serious writing as IRFWP commentary, or invite your contribution to Dialogue and Alliance(<-- click)
Hazards for both sides when politicians court pastors By Adelle M. Banks and Daniel Burke
WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. Mike Huckabee and his "Christian leader" ads. John McCain and John Hagee. Hillary Clinton and her "prayer warriors." Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright.
To put it mildly, the 2008 election has featured an extraordinary emphasis on religion.
"There's been more religious ferment in this election than any since 1960," said Ralph Reed, the GOP strategist who helped build the Christian Coalition in the 1990s, "and I don't expect that to come to an end."
But the past couple of weeks have demonstrated -- to a degree not seen in previous elections -- that the intersection of religion and politics can be fraught with peril for pastors and politicians.
