Religion is a funny theme when it comes to American politics. In spite of Thomas Jefferson’s warning about creating a “wall of separation” between church and the state, strategic politicians have found that they can easily capitalize off of religion to gain votes in elections.
I remember studying John F. Kennedy’s election in high school and learning about how Kennedy’s Catholicism became a major point of contention during the nomination and election process. Coming from a Catholic family, I feel like I was often shielded from this nation’s strong Protestant roots, and it amused me to hear that some people legitimately thought Kennedy would bring the pope over on a ship and give him a room in the White House to write his own policy.
Kennedy managed to win that election, but God showed no signs of leaving the political arena. Reagan won the favor of evangelicals in the 80s by criticizing recent Supreme Court decisions that sought to “take God out of the classroom.”
Indeed, many politicians have found highly impassioned voting blocs in some of the more religious communities of this country, and they know how to get people fired up.
And the issue is hardly gone. In 2008, rumors circulated for months that Obama was a “secret Muslim.” This talking point always upset me to no end. For one, Obama makes his Christianity quite obvious (sometimes as if he needs to prove it to us), but even beyond that, what would it matter if Obama was a Muslim? Does that suddenly make him anti-American? I like to think we’re not that bigoted, but then again, I’m an optimist.
Today, I read headlines about the battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry to capture the evangelical wing the Republican Party. Perry of course gave himself an advantage by hosting “The Response” in Houston a few months ago, but Romney runs into problems in this area. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (which is a denomination of Christianity, as much as some folks try to deny it), Romney faces criticism from many other Christian groups. Last Friday, while introducing Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit, Baptist Minister Robert Jeffress called Mormonism “a cult,” a sentiment he originally professed in 2008 when Romney first ran. Jon Huntsman, another candidate for president who happens to be a Mormon, has decried these controversies as a “political sideshow.”
Personally, I think Huntsman hits the nail on the head. If any of the presidential candidates practiced ritualistic cannibalism as part of their worship proceedings, I might be more concerned, but we’ve reached a point where religion should not be so contentious of an issue in elections. Our nation faces mounting problems both abroad and domestically; are we really going to view our political landscape through such a narrow lens that we would oppose a candidate because we don’t like the god they worship?
While a candidate’s religion might shape how they feel about certain issues, (I’m looking at Michele Bachmann and her statements about American homosexuals), a candidate ought not to be written off immediately because of their religious background. There are plenty of reasons to hate our politicians; let’s leave their deities (or lack thereof, in the case of my atheist brethren) out of it.
Brandon Bub is a sophomore majoring in English and edits The Daily Campus opinion column. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]
