President, Not Pastor or Priest or Handicapper General
The vote in this year’s election is for President of the United States. Our constitution is clear about the executive branch of government, and in that clarity refers to the person as President. Not pastor, not priest, not handicapper general. President.
Our constitution, in the 26th Amendment, also requires voters to be of a certain age, what often is referred to as the age of majority. In other words, you must be old enough to be presumed a grown up in order to vote in federal and state elections.
Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are scheduled to appear together Saturday at a minister-moderated forum held in a church as thousands of evangelicals plan to gather in Washington, D.C. to pressure both candidates to move further to the right on social issues such as same sex marriage and abortion rights. Each candidate has taken his turn dealing with pastor-related controversies this year, and each has come under attack by various members of the evangelical right.
They are running for President, though, not pastor or priest or handicapper general. Yes, of course, each voter in the country is entitled to their own views on religion and society, and the right to determine their own core life values. The evangelical right, though, wants the country’s core life values to be theirs, and that is the rub. While the Constitution establishes only three requirements to be President of the United States – - have been born here, have been born more than 35 years ago, and get more electoral votes than any other candidate – - the evangelical right wishes to impose a few of its own requirements.
Each candidate has taken a different tact with respect to religion and religious beliefs. Obama has willingly discussed his Christian faith, and has ambitiously sought out the religious vote by initiating meetings with pastors and going after young evangelicals. A political action group called “Matthew 25 Network” was formed in June hoping to reach out to Christians on Obama’s behalf. Matthew 25, for those who aren’t Biblical scholars, includes the “ten virgins” parable, and the line “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
In contrast, McCain has kept his religion and religious beliefs basically to himself. Although raised an Episcapalian, McCain now identifies himself as Baptist. “I’m unashamed and unembarrassed about my deep faith in God. But I do not obviously try to impose my views on others,” McCain said earlier in the year.
It is interesting to note that Obama, who wears his Christian faith on his shirtsleeve and is the more freely talkative of the two candidates on religion, is trailing McCain in polls of the evangelical right. A CNN commissioned poll in June showed McCain receiving about 65% of the white evangelical voters surveyed, while only 30% supported Obama. By comparison, Mr. Happy received the support of 78 percent of evangelical voters in the 2004 presidential election.
There’s a lot more going on politically than the religious vote in this election, to be sure. The economy, the wars, social security, oil and energy, and so much more dominate the news and our greatest fears daily, and one’s religious beliefs have nothing to do with any of them. For instance, what is the religious solution to the economic woes we are suffering through each day? The religious solution to energy costs and the price of oil per barrel? The religious solution to social security’s insecurity?
We’re voting for President in November, and let’s keep it to that. Not pastor, not priest, not handicapper general. Let’s be grownups when it comes time to vote, grownups who are capable of choosing core life values for ourselves rather than having them chosen for us.
The wisest comment so far on the issue came from McCain . . . . “But I do not obviously try to impose my views on others.” We should vote as wisely.
Political Commentary | Harrison | August 14, 2008
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