Thoughts from several (possible) presidential candidates on faith and politics:
I tell people that my faith is my life. It defines me. I see no separation between my faith from my personal and professional lives. Real faith should make us humble and mindful, not to the faults of others but of our own. It should not make us more judgmental, but rather less judgmental, as we see others living a life with the same frailty we acknowledge within ourselves.
Hopefully, faith gives us strength in the face of injustice to our fellow man. I believe that our Nation was birthed in a spirit of faith – not a prescriptive one dictating how we are to believe or even that we are to believe, but a faith that acknowledges that there is indeed a providence that pervades our world. – Gov. Mike Huckabee
That is why, if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at—to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own—then as progressives we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse. Because when we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations towards one another; when we shy away from religious venues and religious broadcasts because we assume that we will be unwelcome—others will fill the vacuum, those with the most insular views of faith or those who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends.
In other words, if we don’t reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, then the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons and Alan Keyeses will continue to hold sway.
More fundamentally, the discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms. If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Imagine Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address without reference to “the judgments of the Lord,†or King’s “I Have a Dream†speech without references to “all of God’s children.†Their summoning of a higher truth helped inspire what had seemed impossible and move the nation to embrace a common destiny. – Sen. Barack Obama
My faith has been my salvation. I went through a very rough experience in my life many years ago and the only why reason I’m here today is because of the faith that I had in a greater being who sustained me at times when I was under most difficult stress. My faith has been my anchor and my guide. I am proud and unashamed to tell people that. I don’t advertise it. Maybe I should. But the fact is that the only reason I’m here today is because I believe that a higher being has a mission for me in my life, a reason for me to be here. Now that doesn’t mean that he wants me to be elected or not but it does mean that I have a purpose. And that purpose I believe is to live a life based on Judeo-Christian principals and honor and integrity. – Sen. John McCain.
America’s leadership role in the world has grown out of our compassion and moral strength, as well as our unparalleled economic and military strength. We can be proud of our long history of using our strength to fight for the freedom of others, but our standing in the world has been badly tarnished. America can once again be looked up to and respected around the world. The first step is by immediately withdrawing 40,000-50,000 troops from Iraq, with the complete withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq within 12-18 months — allowing the Iraqis to assume greater responsibility for rebuilding their own country. It also means working to restore our legitimacy by leading on the great challenges before us like the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the genocide in Darfur, extreme poverty, and living up to our ideals in the fight against terrorism. – Sen. John Edwards on restoring America’s moral leadership
What is it about America’s culture and values that makes us such a successful nation and society? Part of that is we love liberty, we love our country, we’re patriotic. I believe it’s also because we are a people who love God and look for a purpose greater than ourselves in life. – Gov. Mitt Romney
Religion, once an integral part of our society, is today being eradicated from nearly every aspect of public life. The First Amendment protects the freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice. That freedom is under attack by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, who profit financially from lawsuits brought against cities and towns that display religious symbols. The ACLU and others have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees from suits brought against local cities and towns. Now they are using those victories to threaten other local jurisdictions. I introduced the Public Expression of Religion Act last year to prevent groups like the ACLU from collecting attorneys’ fees in religious freedom cases. Our country was founded on the idea that its citizens should be free to express their religious beliefs without government interference. I will continue the fight to protect that freedom. – Sen. Sam Brownback
Comments or quotes regarding faith and politics could not be found on campaign websites for Sen. Hillary Clinton or Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
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