Articles

Does a political candidate's religion matter?

Opinion by Doug Gatlin
Faith And The City
October 20, 2006

Does a political candidate's religion matter?

If that means the name of the candidate's religion, no, it doesn't matter. If it means, whether they have, or practice, a religion, then it begins to matter.

What really matters is whether the basic tenets of their faith guide them in their life rather than just being regulations they sometimes hear about on the holy days. Do they consider their faith in their decision-making? Is it a priority that exists along with economic and political advancement priorities?

Whether the candidate is a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Bahai, a Sikh or of any other faith tradition – or Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, Evangelical, Pentecostal or any other denomination or non-denomination – shouldn't matter.

But it will – to many, many voters.

The name of their faith shouldn't matter. However, whether the candidate truly follows the commandments and teachings of their faith is important.

Do you remember not long ago when it was thought that a Catholic couldn't be elected President? That was from the fear that the Pope would be in control of our national policy. We did elect a Catholic, John F. Kennedy, and the Pope never showed up. It wasn't a problem.

More recently, much of the country was disturbed, bothered – “freaked out” might be an even better description – by having a "born again" Christian in the White House. That president, of course, was Jimmy Carter, an economically conservative, socially liberal president who kept us out of a war in the Middle East and who tried to get us interested in energy conservation and energy independence.

President Carter’s religion doesn't seem to have been a problem. In fact, I would say that he falls well within the category I mentioned above – of those whose faith is a priority, along with economic and political advantage, in his life and in his decision-making.

But many, maybe most, people today still are either afraid of, or made nervous by, others who seem "different" – whether the difference is appearance, language, or religion. And unfortunately, it doesn't much matter whether they know anything else about the "different" person or not.

But we need to know about the person, their positions, the way they look at things, what they take into consideration when making decisions – not just what they look like, what the press reports about what their opponent is calling them, or what faith tradition they embrace. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know how candidates feel about real issues these days when campaigns are so shallow. All heat and no light.

I'll paraphrase what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said very well: a person should be judged by the content of their character, not just by the color of their skin – or the name of their religion.

One day, I hope before too long – when the content of a candidate’s character is the most important thing we want to know about our candidates – America will become less afraid and will return to being the example to the world that it once was and can be again.

Doug Gatlin is the founding Executive Director of Faith And The City. This opinion is based on remarks that he delivered for a commentary to be aired by Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Inc. cable network. More information on AIB: www.aibtv.com.

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