God-o-Meter was reading an interview today with a certain prospective vice president and was surprised to hear the candidate's answer to a question about faith:
I haven't really worn it on my sleeve. I haven't been out there preaching it. I've always been of the mind that you [walk] the walk. You just don't have to be talking the talk about your beliefs, so just wanting maybe my life to be able to reflect my faith. So it's always been pretty personal...
Guess who said that? The answer's below. While you're at it, can you guess which presidents and presidential candidates said the following about faith?
1. "I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve."
2. "The prayer that I tell myself every night is a fairly simple one: I ask in the name of Jesus Christ that my sins are forgiven, that my family is protected and that I am an instrument of God's will. I'm constantly trying to align myself to what I think he calls on me to do."
3. "[T]he number one issue people should make [in the] selection of the President of the United States is, 'Will this person carry on in the Judeo Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?'"
4. "My faith plays a big part in my life. And when I was answering that question what I was really saying to the person was that I pray a lot. And I do. And my faith is a very, it's very personal. I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm's way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls.
Here's God-o-Meter's point: the world of faith and politics has been turned upside down in recent years. It's hard to tell who's a Republican or a Democrat, a Bible thumper or a secularist, a theocrat or a strict church/state separationist.
ANSWERS:
"I haven't really worn it on my sleeve..." (from first quote
Sarah Palin in an interview this weekend with David Brody
1. 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in his '04 convention speech.
2. Barack Obama in a Beliefnet interview last January
3. John McCain in a Beliefnet interview last fall
4. George W. Bush, in the third presidential debate during the 2004 campaign
http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/07/George-W-Bush-On-Faith.aspx
Surprised? God-o-Meter was.
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God-o-Meter was surprised by this? God-o-Meter should get out more.
I remember when there didn't used to be any religious test to hold public office. In fact, I remember when it was guaranteed that "there shall be no religious test to hold public office in America."
I remember when John F. kennedy had to swear that his (Catholic) faith would not influence his polices. Nowadays, candidates seem to have to swear that they WILL.
I blame the radical religious rightwingnutjob extremists (everyone from Buchanan to Falsewell, from Swaggart to Haggard to Hagee, from Dobson to "man-on-dog" Santorum, for this horrid about-face.
Get religiosity out of politics. Do as Jesus told you: Pray in secret. Keep faith in your worship places and your homes and America - nay, the entire world - will be the better for it.
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