Democratic Conversation

Faith & values issues have created in American politics a smokescreen to what the country requires: smart talk on realistic problems that must be answered correctly to correct living-wage job loss, global warming, Muslim extremist murderers, and changing the country from oil dependency to renewable energy independence.

Yet this is the political season (as if there isn’t ever a political season anymore, given 24/7 news), and politicians are out and about sixteen months before the 2008 election, saying pretty much what people want (or for some people, need) to hear. So the religious questions have begun, and last night on CNN a special two hours were devoted to pelting Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Kucinich, Dodd, and Richardson with questions attempting to properly vet the candidates to those who see religion as a most important aspect for holding presidential office.

Obama went easy, speaking in milquetoast sequiturs. Edwards went typically Southern, and linked just about all his daily actions to prayer and God’s so-called wisdom and influence on his thoughts. His disturbing – and disturbed – answer begged the question, Who will be running the country, Senator Edwards? You or God? Free will is the foundation of this country; letting God direct your thoughts and actions is antithetical to a country based on laws, freedom, and pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. This last phrase, if you didn’t already know, Senator, can be found in the Declaration of Independence, a document composed by deists who had first-hand knowledge of countries ruled by religious edict. They didn’t like them!

Clinton took a much-needed route to putting religion & politics in its place, in my opinion. “I come from a background that looks suspiciously at people who wear their faith on their sleeve.” Well, thank you Senator Clinton for putting a little perspective on the job of president of the United States versus religious evocation.

Not that it matters or should matter to Americans, but to the outside world, America’s too-narrow focus on religious-minded leaders is a joke. They also think this deflects from America’s much-needed leadership role in the world’s greatest problems. But that’s the outside world, and in America, the outside world matters little unless there’s cheap oil or manufactured goods to be had. What America does have is a lot of God-fearing, personal-relationship-with-Jesus types who want to hear a certain idea come out of its candidates mouths.

The republican candidates have for a long time tapped into this sort of snake oil charm of the ignorant masses. The democrats decided that they needed to get fully dressed for the church social this time around, and so have gladly paid their dues at the altar of mass media-produced Q & A forums. Is this scary? Should politics be infiltrated by religion and religious language in the political arena. And, how can a republic founded on law justify how these developments fly directly in the face of America’s foundation against religious tampering with the political or/and governmental processes?

Americans complain about Muslims, about Jews, about Hindus, about atheists. Yet America is the most radically religious country extant today. No, we don’t exactly send true believers out to commit suicide bombing missions. However, George W. Bush, a loudly proclaimed born-again Christian who admittedly has taken cues from his prayers, has brought murder to other countries in the form of military invasion, occupation of a sovereign country, torture chambers, and now just released: chemical weapons attacks on Iraqis. All of this, and at the neglect of genocidal maniacs in Darfur, Sudan. Hmm. What about the murderous maniacs in the White House? Is this what Americans want? Is this the symbol that Americans want to portray to the world?

There are many American citizens who oppose the idea and current practice of bringing religion or even religious belief into the White House. These people think that personal faith should remain personal, and not become either public or political. Many of these people have faith. There is also a large population of atheists in America who cringe at each politician’s reference to God or Jesus as a daily influence on their actions. When will more of both step forward and say what needs to be done in America to save the republic from becoming a religious state?