An End to Mixing Religion and Politics?

Kevin Rennie of the Harford  Courant (via Political Wire)  points out yet another good thing to come out of this week’s elections:

This election brought one overlooked blessing. There will probably be less public flaunting of private religious beliefs in campaigns. The voters in one state issued a firm rebuke to that. That’s one way to interpret the defeat of Harold Ford, Jr. in Tennessee. Good Lord, a political commercial filmed in church. Democrats must have sent silence prayers into the ether for relief from that stunt. The voters of Tennessee answered them. Please, let the curse of blunt displays of piety in politics initiated by Jimmy Carter thirty years ago, come to an end. If Jesus had cared that much about politics he would have delivered the Sermon on the Mount in Rome.

Yes, hopefully this is the end of this. After 2004 many Democrats thought his was necessary, including liberal from the liberal northeast. Howard Dean has made a number of statements about religion which, regardless of his personal beliefs, sounded forced and inauthentic. Even John Kerry, who wisely went through his entire politcal career avoiding mixing politics and religion until now, felt compelled to speak on the subject in September.

4 Comments

  1. 1
    kj says:

    I too hope the mixing of religion and politics in America is at an end. Mixed together too much, a Taliban results.

  2. 2
    battlebob says:

    It used to be that your religious affiliation (if any) was personel. Instead of hiting everyone with a Bible, you acted as if you really believed the contents. It was your actions and deeds that showed your character; your religous convictions. You were deenmed a phony if you went out of your way to show how pious you were. The big battle was could you be a humanist and treat folks like you wanted to be treated without any God referance. You can be a kind person without any push from any diety.
    I hope we get back to making religion a personal issue…

  3. 3
    Christopher says:

    A reader on my blog pointed out that he wasn’t shedding any tears over Harold Ford’s defeat.

    The reason? Ford’s vehement antigay remarks anytime a camera was on him. In fact, the same day the NJ Supreme Court instructed the Lege to fix the problem of gay marriage equity in that state, Ford flapped his cakehole and said he was against gay marriage because his God told him it was wrong.

    I thought Harold Ford would lose because he was a Lieberman-like supporter of Bush’s Iraq war. He was also FOXNews (GOP-TV)’s go-to “democrat” when they were doing their ridiculous fair-and-balanced shtick. But maybe it was more.

    Maybe his relentless remarks about Jesus and God finally did him in? I’m inclined to think so.

  4. 4
    kj says:

    Had a conversation today with a couple of people who have a history of being active supporters of local politians (and the League of Women Voters). The woman brought up a point that I hadn’t noticed before, but I think could use some attention. That is, why are polling places located in private churches, instead of public schools buildings, as they used to be?

    What message are we sending? Food for thought on the government mixed with religion subject.

    Re: Harold Ford. I didn’t agree with his campaign style in the slightest, but I very much wanted him to win Tennessee. Why? He’s a Democrat and in this election I thought it was important to get a majority in the Senate. Speaking of the election, one of my friends mentioned today that she actually FELT healthier knowing the Democrats had a chance in DC. On a personal note, it was also great to be in an urban area and see all the McCaskill signs still up in the yards.

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