Another Campaign Low: The God Test

In the North Carolina race for U.S. Senator, incumbent Elizabeth Dole has launched a t.v. spot that charges her opponent Kay Hagan as being "Godless." After attending a September fundraiser in Boston sponsored by a number of liberals, Ms. Hagan accepted a contribution from one of the the co-hosts, an individual associated with the "Godless Americans PAC." Ms. Hagan has owned up to accepting the money, however she insists it did not come from the PAC.

The Charlotte Observor offered the following commentary: "...Dole has resorted to the Big Lie technique, morphing a kernel of truth into a monumental fiction. How so?

"The Dole campaign stepped across a broad line, portraying Hagan as not Christian and suggesting she does not believe in God. The Dole ad shows a picture of Hagan while a woman's voice, not Hagan's, intones, “There is no God.”

"This is indecent. It is the modern-day version of the “white hands” ad, a lie born of Dole's desperation in a race in which she has trailed for weeks. It is also a deliberate attempt by Dole's campaign not just to distort the truth, but to shatter Hagan's admirable record as an elder for more than a decade in Greensboro's First Presbyterian Church, as a Sunday School teacher and a volunteer in her church's fundraising campaigns, worship services and community service programs."

In my estimation this intemperate act by Ms. Dole is another low point of religion and politics in 2008. It echoes the tacit religious test that all candidates are put to.

Remembering Colin Powell's recent comments, the issue isn't whether Ms. Hagan is "Godless" or not. The issue is the First Amendment right any American has relative to belief or non-belief.

Pentecostalism and Spiritual Warfare

Sarah Palin's vice-presidential nomination is shining a spotlight on Pentecostalism, a branch of Protestantism that emerged in the early years of the 20th century. Many trace Pentecostalism's organized origins to the famed Azusa Street Revival that took place in Los Angeles in 1906. Its basic belief involves the active agency of the Holy Spirit, touching believers with "spiritual gifts," including the speaking in tongues, casting out of demons, and prophesizing. It is estimated that a quarter of world Christians are Pentecostals (sometimes called Charismatics). It is the fastest growing branch of Christianity in the U.S. and around the world.

Ms. Palin has recently associated with several independent Bible Churches of a Pentecostal bent. Videos available on YouTube link her to a subset of Pentecostalism that practices "spiritual warfare" in prayerful battle with demons. One video shot at her Wasilla Bible Church (as she ran for Governor) shows a Kenyan preacher praying fervently over her, beseeching God to "protect her from every form of witchcraft."

Ms. Palin has mostly declined interviews regarding her religious outlook. (James Dobson of Focus on the Family did interview her by telephone this week and Ms. Palin referenced "spiritual warriors.")

In my estimation the spotlight on Pentecostalism cast by Sarah Palin's fame is one of the treats of the 2008 campaign, in the same sense that Barack Obama's association with a Chicago Black Liberation church was a treat. The fabric of American society, including religion, is pluralistic and complex. This year's campaign has made us more aware of the variety of religious expressions, while reminding us of First Amendment rights.

In this regard Christianity is a big tent. One component can assert that it provides the means to overcome racial oppression; another component asserts that in the imminent "Last Days" Alaska will be a refuge state where the multitudes will flock to avoid the tribulations.

Colin Powell on Freedom of Religion

On Sunday Colin Powell (former Secretary of State under George W. Bush and Republican) endorsed Barack Obama. His rationale had several components including the following:

"I'm also troubled not with what Senator McCain says but what members of the party say and it is permitted to be said, such things as, 'Well, you know Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is that Mr. Obama is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no. That's not America."

In my estimation Mr. Powell uttered one of the more honorable statements regarding religion in the 2008 campaign. He stood up for First Amendment rights. He also affirmed that there is no litmus test regarding citizenship and who's a real American.

In a February post, citing a Pew Forum poll, I argued that there is a tacit religious test on political candidates to have a particular religious outlook. I wrote, "I'd love to see a candidate or two move us toward a greater appreciation of what freedom of religion means in the grand and great scheme of the Republic." Though not a candidate, Colin Powell has done just that.

An Invocation for We the People

When I'm asked to offer a public invocation, I'm sensitive to the many faiths and philosophies in the audience, as well at the overarching rubric of the separation of church and state. At political events, I'm particularly careful/mindful. A few years agoI delivered the following invocation at a Presidents' Day Gathering of DuPage Democrats. It made its way to the Internet and was used at other public events around the country.

An Invocation for We the People

We the People pause, as we do at events such as this,
So We the People might acknowledge, together,
deeper rhythms of our common life.

Some of us choose to pray, invoking a deity
Some of us choose to meditate or reflect,
invoking timeless ideals and universal
principles.

Some of us simply choose to keep a silence--
alone in our private chambers of thought--
listening, perhaps waiting for a Word.

We the People invoke God--the Nameless One of the Jewish 
tradition, the Incarnation of Jesus of the Christian faith,
Allah of Islam, Brahma in the many avatars of
Hinduism, the Buddha Spirit, the Goddess,
--all manifestations of the Divine realized by
persons of strong traditions and good intentions.

Or We the People invoke the Substances
behind the Forms we cherish: Love,
Humanity, Justice, Democracy, Sisterhood
and Brotherhood, Freedom, or Community.

Or We the People invoke, in our silence,
inner resources: reason, conscience, intuition,
inspiration, or imagination.

When We the People gather, as we gather now,
we gather under a Great Covenant:
Liberty for all and equality among us,
centered in an impartial Justice that edges
closer and closer to fairness and compassion.
When We the People gather, as we gather, now,
we join the faiths and philosophies that
sustain us separately and honor our Great
Covenant

In this expansive spirit, we pause, we invoke, we
recall, we dedicate,--now,--in this moment and
in this place:

Let there be humility for the bounties
we freely enjoy.
Let there be gratitude for the labor of those
who preceded us, as well as those who serve and keep us now.
And let there be hope for those who will
follow, for whom we prepare a way.
We the People seek these things
In our many voices and in our varied integrities.

An Offensive Prayer

At a Davenport, Iowa, McCain/Palin rally Saturday the following invocation was offered by Rev. Arnold Conrad, retired minister of the Grace Evangelical Free Church. (Mr. McCain had not yet arrived.)

In part Rev. Conrad intoned: “I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god - whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah - that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons.

“And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day.”

In my estimation this is an offensive prayer. It offends Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. It offends Mr. Obama by implication. But even more it offends Rev. Conrad's God by presuming to tell that deity what to think and do: "guard your own reputation" and "step forward and honor your own name."

This odd pronouncement has set a new low standard for public prayer.