Sunday Reflection: Faith and Politics

I have a piece in the Waco paper today about one weird conundrum in our politics today: we get so tied up in the horse race aspect of elections and personality elements about candidates (ie, whether or not they are "tough") that too often we devalue actual policy-- the meat and potatoes of what politics is supposed to really be about. You can read the whole thing here.

Part of what seems to be off-limits is this: How a candidate's faith might influence what he or she does in office. It's a tricky subject (and has been since John F. Kennedy ran for president, at least). Broaching the subject is to invite religious bias into the conversation, we fear.

But that fear may stop us from asking important questions, and learning what politicians will do if elected. It even encourages dishonesty, as people running for office often feel compelled to disavow the influence of their faith. Sometimes, I suspect, that disavowal is not true.

And I probably don't want it to be true of the candidates I favor. It seems that the stock answer to the question I pose is to assert that faith will not affect performance of the job if elected. But if that is true... what kind of faith is that? I have trouble respecting someone who claims a faith, and then sidelines it in making the most important professional decisions.