Religion in Politics

[Gilding the Lily]

They're playing to a voting group...thats it.Some campaign advisor is telling them what direction to go,what voting block to appeal to.Phony's.
My God's better than your God

I disagree with that assessment in regards to Obama (I couldn't tell you whether that asssesment is correct for the other dems). Since he was in the Illinois State Senate years ago, he has been using religous rhetoric. Same thing when he was running for the Illinois Senate against Alan Keyes. His books -- even the one written in the early 90's -- have significant religous rhetoric.

When he was running for the Illinois State Senate, I am sure that he did not have an all-knowing campaign advisor as he does today.

So, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to say that Obama is simply playing to a voting group... or doing something that is completely out of the ordinary for him.

 

[delldude]

From the looks of this articl, the Dems are selling out and some of the Reps are running scared because their beliefs are running against the core values of the religious right.

It strikes me as odd that two of the top Reps (Guiliani and Romney) want to put the geni that their party let loose back in the bottle and now the Dems are looking to take advantage of it.

If this is not a bizzar change of order I don't know what is.

Religion and Politics


Democrats in general are targeting moderate Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and even evangelicals, hoping to enlist enough voters for whom religious and moral issues are a priority to put together a winning coalition.

and

Some top-tier Republican candidates, the natural heirs to conservative religious support, are finding the issue awkward to handle.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been questioned so much about his Mormon faith -- 46 percent of those polled by Gallup in March had a negative opinion of the religion -- that he has taken to emphasizing that he is running for a secular office.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Catholic who says he gave serious consideration as a young man to becoming a priest, is fending off critics who say he should be denied the sacrament of communion because he supports abortion rights.

I love this quote

Religion has become such a common element of presidential politics that during the first televised debate among the 2008 Republican candidates, a reporter asked if any did not believe in evolution -- three Republicans raised their hands: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo.

Times change or a change in times?

Pew also asked respondents for their view of the Mormon faith. Among all Republicans surveyed, 54 percent said it was Christian, while 33 percent said it was not. Those numbers nearly flipped among evangelicals -- 35 percent said it was Christian while 53 percent said it was not.

Story