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Marisa Ruiz
Religion and Politics are the most controversial of all topics discussed among men.
According to our government, there is a clear division betweenchurch and state. The
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that, "Congress shall make no law
preference of one religion over another or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable
secular purpose” (Wikipedia). Although this is true doctrine, religion is politicized as it was
Religious Hegemony, Gene Burns, a well-known liberal radio talk show host, wrote that,
“Religious participation involves more fundamentally a spiritual and symbolic experience than
religiously inspired politics typically dissipates. And so religiously inspired politics is typically
more focused and passionate when directed against opponents than it is in pursuit of any positive
faith has been able togain or lose prospective voters. The following are prime examples that
For example, the public’s prejudice about Mormons and Mormonism hurt Republican
Presidential Nominee, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor in his candidacy for
United States Presidential race. Adam Nagourney, a journalist covering U.S. politics and Laurie
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Goodstein, a religion reporter for The New York Times explained how a candidate’s religion
could actually hurt their political position and aspirations. They describe Mormonism as, “(a)
religion viewed with suspicion by Christian conservatives, (who are) a vital part of the
Republicans’ primary base… Mormons consider themselves to be Christians, but some beliefs
some people that account for at least some of the public unease: polygamy (which the church
renounced in 1890,) that it is more of a cult than a religion, and that it takes political direction
from its church’s leaders,” (Goodstein and Nagourey). Unlike John F. Kennedy, he chose not to
emphasize this impressionable point. It might have been critical to address these concerns in a
direct approach like advertising, propaganda, or a speech. Although Mitt Romney expressed
confidence that he could authenticate his loyalty for his country first, then his faith, he was
unsuccessful in alleviating the American public’s concerns about his faith, therefore losing the
Republican nomination.
Mitt Romney, he was realistic about the clergy’s concerns for his ability to govern our nation by
political reasoning rather than religious should he become president. On the issue of his religion,
Catholicism, John F. Kennedy gave a speech on September 12, 1960. “At the time, many
Protestants questioned whether Kennedy's Roman Catholic faith would allow him to make
important national decisions as president independent of the church. Kennedy addressed those
concerns before a skeptical audience of Protestant clergy, (NPR). By addressing their concerns,
he obviously shed some influence and persuasion on the clergy, because in 1961, he became the
35th President of the United States. This suggests that by attending to inquiries about their faith
and dealing with the public’s apprehension, a candidate can avoid decimation by voters regarding
Alternatively, avoiding any discussion of faith by a candidate altogether can have adverse
reactions not only towards the candidate, but also towardsthe entire political party. As in John
Kerry's case, Suzanne Sataline, a journalist who covers religious issue for the New York Times
and Wall Street Journal assessed the effects of not responding to the public’s inquiry regarding
his faith and religious views. She indicated that, “Mr. Kerry’s loss among religious voters was
on his unwillingness to talk about his faith and address their moral concerns. In a white paper
that circulated around Washington, (the women) said that if Democrats were going to shed an
anti-religion reputation, candidates had to talk about faith, go on Christian radio, grant interviews
to reporters for Catholic media and discuss issues that Republicans were not addressing: namely,
poverty, immigration and the environment,” (Sataline). John Kerry kept his focus on public
policy and disregarded his religious faith as an issue. His failure to address specifics on his faith
during his campaign led to the loss of a great number of religious voters. As a careless move on
his part, this objectivity cost him the vote as a presidential candidate.
Lastly and most recently, we can observe how President-elect Barack Obama used moral
concerns over life issues to appeal to voters from a spiritual standpoint rather than a scientific or
politicalpoint of view. Appealing to the masses, he emphasized how our society is in crisis.
“CHANGE” was his motto. Sataline identified that, “A concerted effort since 2004 helped
Barack Obama and the Democrats make significant inroads with religious voters….The
campaign-wooed clergy in ways small and huge, from personal notes and meetings with Mr.
Obama to large Christian "faith rallies" intended to winover young Protestants. They trained
thousands of volunteers to frame social concerns such as poverty as moral issues, while
benefiting from the work of several small, liberal Catholic nonprofits that separately contacted
churchgoers to present topics such as poverty, immigration, war and the environment as moral
issues, while downplaying abortion…At various rallies Obama discussed his faith and urged
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and ethicists, writing letters expressing enthusiasm for their work and inviting them to meet with
him,” (Sataline). He used faith-based reasoning that appealed to religious and non-religious
voters alike. This use of politicizing religion obviously worked because Barack Obama won the
2008 Presidential election and will become the 44thPresident of the United States.
I think a presidential candidate’s religion should not deeply affect how American’s vote,
but given careful consideration when researching the background of each candidate. We can tell
a lot about a candidate by looking into their background of his religious views. In my opinion,
religion is the foundation in which our moral, ethics, and ideology come from. It is important
that we as the public know about this ideology, because it shapes a government official’s choice
of public policy and importance thereof. Although religious voters are inclined to consider a
candidate’s faith in determining who they will vote for, by appealing to morality with a faith
based approach, voters religious and non-alike will eagerly listened to what a candidate has to
say. A candidate’s religious faith should not be the deciding factor on how we cast ourballots.
Public policy should take the front seat in a voter’s decision. According to the United States
Constitution, freedom of religion is one the rights that we as Americans are entitled to. With the
different beliefs among the public, there MUST be a clear division between church and state.
Candidates must be sensitive to this and be able to remain neutralnot pushing a religious agenda
Works Cited
Burns, Gene. "Is American Religion Politicized?: Symbolic Affirmation vs. Religious
Association, Atlanta Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA, Aug 16, 2003. 23 Oct. 2008
<http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p106159_index.html>
14 Nov. 2008,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Establishment_Clause_of_the_First_Amendment>
Goodstein, Laurie,and Adam Nagourney. “Mormon Candidate Braces for Religion as Issue”,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/us/politics/08romney.html>
Sataline, Suzanne. “Democrats Gain with Religious Voters”, Wall Street Journal Online. 06
Nov. 2008,
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122593560219503829.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#pri
tMode>
Transcript Courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, NPR.org.