One presidential contender suggests he might be unwilling to vote for a Muslim. Another airs a commercial calling himself a “Christian leader.” A cable television anchor presses candidates to answer whether they “believe every word” of the Bible. And, finally, the Mormon in the race seeks to quell questions about his religion by insisting that Jesus is his savior.
Candidates in past election seasons have certainly talked up religion. In 2000, Al Gore remarked that he often asked himself “What would Jesus do?” and George W. Bush named Jesus as the political philosopher who most influenced him. That’s not to mention Joseph Lieberman’s focus on his Jewish faith and insistence that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not from religion.
But some observers are saying that the intersection of politics and piety in the 2008 presidential race seems more frequent, detailed and, often, exclusionary.
Some examples include Republicans John McCain commenting about being more comfortable having a president with a Judeo-Christian background, Mike Huckabee fusing his pastoral and political personas and Mitt Romney defending his Mormon faith. Then there was CNN’s Anderson Cooper offering a Bible quiz.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has seen his faith become an issue, helping to erode his early front-runner status in Iowa, especially among some evangelical Republicans who see Mormons as apostates.
On Dec. 6, in a speech at the George Bush presidential library in College Park, Texas, Romney said his Mormon faith would have no bearing on how he governs, but added that he believes that American public life acknowledges a “creator.”
“We should acknowledge the creator as did the founders — in ceremony and word,” Romney said. “He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests.'”
Romney made a point of insisting that he believes “Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind,” but ruled out further discussion about the specifics of his faith.
Romney’s approach drew a mix of reactions from prominent Jewish figures.
The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, cited Romney’s speech as an example of how far the American political culture has internalized religious tests as a standard since John F. Kennedy delivered his famous speech during the 1960 campaign in which he addressed the potential of his becoming the first Roman Catholic president.
Rabbi David Saperstein, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center in Washington, praised Romney’s rejection of a religious standard for office as “a primer for electoral candidates to study in getting the use of religion in our elections right.”
Saperstein, however, noted an inherent contradiction in the speech: Romney affirmed his belief that Jesus is the son of God.
“If it were wrong to explain his Mormonism because candidates should not talk about their religion, then it was wrong to offer this assertion of faith, which served little purpose other than as a political ploy: to reassure observant Catholics and Protestants — most of all conservative Evangelical Protestants — that he shared their core belief,” Saperstein wrote on his blog.
Jewish Republicans said they were not worried about the religious rhetoric in this election cycle, noting that expressions of faith had also cropped up in the campaigns of Democratic candidates such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“We’re not concerned,” said Suzanne Kurtz, a spokeswoman for the Republican Jewish Coalition. “They are expressing their views that faith is important in their lives as others from across the political aisle have done.”
That does not mean Jewish Republicans are letting their guard down, she said.
“What we do need to watch for is that candidates do not impose their personal views on others,” Kurtz said. “Religious tolerance and respecting the right of others to practice their faith as they see fit is what is important.”