Sunday Reflection: Religion and Politics

Most people, including politicians, will say that their faith is an important part of their life, and is the basis of their sense of right and wrong. Not all people, of course-- some folks have principled systems of belief that are not rooted in a theology. But most politicians do claim a faith; it is telling that no member of Congress asserts an atheist identity, and only one member of Congress-- Senator Sinema of Arizona-- describes herself as religiously unaffiliated according to a Pew Research Center Analysis.

Other than Republicans defending their views on abortion or LGBT issues (or brave Pete Buttligieg on the same-- and he really is brave in this way, given that the rest of his party seems very wary of talking about religion), the people running for office rarely talk about their faith unless they are talking to a faith group. This is especially true of the current crop of presidential candidates. I suspect there are three reasons for this:

1) For some, the truth might be that their faith isn't really that important to them, but it would be unpopular to admit that publicly.

2) For others, they are afraid of being characterized within the parameters of our toxic religious stereotyping-- ie, the bigoted Christian or the pro-terrorist Muslim.

3) Finally, I suspect some are quite moved by their faith, but don't want to be depicted as completely captive to it-- ie, the charge that JFK would take directions from the Pope.

The result is that we end up knowing little about the interaction between a leaders' faith and their actions. And isn't that a problem? If faith is their source of discerning right from wrong, isn't that something that should be revealed and discussed openly?

I would love a debate to feature this question: "How does your faith inform the choices you make, and would make as President?"

As a culture, we seem to want to avoid that kind of discussion. I don't know why that is, though. Do you?