God and Man in the White House

This is not a brief about religion; it is about religion in politics. I recognize that at this point in the history of our great nation, inveighing against the current situation is akin to standing on the beach and yelling at the tide, but the burlesque of the past few months make the temptation impossible to resist.

I hope you'll agree that people can believe what they want. This is America. The Virgin Mary is seen in a California tortilla while thousands of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn await the messiah. It's a colorful country.

And yet...

Let's begin with Barack Obama and the man who has anointed himself -- forgive me, I'm paraphrasing -- Pope of the Black Church, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama joined this church twenty years ago because of the sad fact that to be viable in national politics a candidate is required to profess "faith," so people "of faith" will not run from him like he has ontological cooties. He claims the spotlight loving Rev. Wright "led me to my faith." Good for Senator Obama. But what, you might reasonably ask, about all those terrible -- and very quotable, and extremely YouTube-friendly -- things the pastor said? You know: the God damn America material?

Anyone who has been paying attention for the past four hundred years will admit that black people have a legitimate beef with how certain things have worked out. And sometimes the rhetoric can get a little heated. But the fact is Rev. Wright, despite his towering self-importance, doesn't matter. Barack Obama is on such a higher level than his former minister, it's hard to believe he looked to him for actual guidance in anything other than how to appear that he belonged in a pew.

Enter John McCain and his Hitler-invoking endorser, the Rev. Hagee. Yes, the Straight Talker was not a member of Rev. Hagee's church, and the author of Jerusalem Countdown did not marry him and Cindy, nor did he baptize their kids. But McCain did actively seek the endorsement of this man who believes God sent a hunter to go after the Jews in order to create the state of Israel, and referred to the Catholic church as "the great whore" (Hagee's way with words is undeniable). I feel badly for McCain. He was, after all, in his 2.0 version someone who called people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance." Clearly, his alliance with Hagee was entirely tactical. But it's sad that he, too, has devolved into just another politician who has sought the prickly embrace of the poisonously religious.

There was a time before the Advent of Jimmy Carter when a politician's relationship with the universe was a private matter about which he or she could choose to reflect deeply, or not. And we didn't have to know what had occurred in anyone's personal Gethsemane. But now religion is just another signifier, like lapel pins, an item to be checked off when we're evaluating would-be presidents. Allow me to quote Eric Hoffer: "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."

The shame does not lie with Wright and Hagee. History has shown that wherever civilization exists, dangerous buffoons will assert themselves. The shame is that American politics has degenerated to the point where these toxic God-wielders are actively courted by those who would be our leaders. Yes, Obama and McCain repudiated them, but what does it say about where we are as a nation that men like Wright and Hagee matter in the first place?

The French have barely gotten over their Elliot Spitzer-induced hysteria. Our latest religious wars must be giving them fits.

Comments

[AnotherTry]

This is exactly why Obama's pandering position on gay equality is a losing position. We need the liberal base to beat McCain. No sense chasing the center any longer. If Obama continues to alienate the gay voters and their families and friends, it will be a disaster for democrats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ9u2S1LltU

[darthdarcy]

I've said it over and over and here we go again:

Jesus said: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's..!"

That's Jesus telling us to keep politics and God's realm religion separate..

Jesus knew that ruin mixing Religion and Politics would bring those of His time and nothing has changed since our Founding Fathers knew has well..

Yet these swine false prophets these heretics these blaspheming hypocrites refuse to obey that which Jesus made so clear for all of us through the ages..so it's very easy if any preacher or general generic national idiot like Huckabee claims that either Our Founding Fathers or God the creator of everything gives a damn about their wrapped political agenda reject them refuse to listen..and use that great quote by Jesus of Nazareth who knew a hell of a lot more than these disgusting bozo heretics our political leaders crawl into bed with like the vipers we all know they are..

[GoreSavingPlanetForJesus]

darthdarcy,

I hope your post was a joke, not to be taken seriously. Please tell me you're not that uneducated .

"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's" was referring to TAXES.

Hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman occupation. They anticipated that Jesus would oppose the tax, because Luke's Gospels explains their purpose was "to hand him over to the power and authority of the governor."

The governor was Pilate, and he was the man responsible for the collecting of Rome's taxes in Judea. At first the questioners flattered Jesus by praising his integrity, impartiality and devotion to truth. Then they asked him whether or not it is right for Jews to pay the taxes demanded by Caesar.

Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman coin that would be suitable for paying Caesar's tax. One of them showed him a Roman coin, and he asked them whose name and inscription were on it. They answered, "Caesar"s," and he responded "Give to Caesar what is Caesar"s, and give to God what is God"s." His interrogators were angry and left disappointed.

[OutsideLookingIn]

"Hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman occupation."

It was more subtle than that. The Temple refused to accept payment for the sacrifices demanded of observant Jews in the official currency of the Roman occupiers, but insisted on the older, "withdrawn from circulation" Jewish coinage. This could only be obtained from the 'money-changers' (not 'money-lenders') of the Temple, who were actually Temple officials, and the Temple set the rate of exchange which was thus a very lucrative source of income for the priests. Jesus' questioners were actually trying to 'trap' Jesus into declaring if he supported the Temple's usury or opposed it. His answer, in fact, was evasive but later when he attacked the money-changers in the Temple he was making a very deliberate political statement which he hoped would start a revolt not against the Roman Occupiers but against a corrupt and greedy Vatican - sorry, Temple.

He failed, and the High Priest of the Temple got the Romans to crucify him.

Oh, and John McCain is hardly the first to call the Catholic Church "the Great Whore." The term probably pre-dates even Martin Luther, referring as it does to "The Great Whore of Babylon."

[GoreSavingPlanetForJesus]

You must have no education at all with regards to the bible.

Jesus was referring to paying taxes.

Hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman occupation. They anticipated that Jesus would oppose the tax, for Luke's Gospels explains their purpose was "to hand him over to the power and authority of the governor."

The governor was Pilate, and he was the man responsible for the collecting of Rome's taxes in Judea. At first the questioners flattered Jesus by praising his integrity, impartiality and devotion to truth. Then they asked him whether or not it is right for Jews to pay the taxes demanded by Caesar.

Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman coin that would be suitable for paying Caesar's tax. One of them showed him a Roman coin, and he asked them whose name and inscription were on it.

They answered, "Caesar"s," and Jesus responded "Give to Caesar what is Caesar"s, and give to God what is God"s."

His interrogators left disappointed.

Do your homework.

[smayhew]

What's really hysterical is that, when Huckabee ran his 'cross' ad - the so-called liberal media went wild. When BO sent out his embarrassing 'preacher in the pulpit with a real cross behind' everyone lowered their heads to hide the giggles because he's a black guy after all and we can't ever chide him, he's the one who makes us feel that he Knows we aren't racisist.
This whole campaign has been run as if the very appearance of a black guy on the scene (no matter his weak resume) will erase the tendency of white America to hang nooses on trees and drag black men to death behind our trucks. Though BO chose to demean Clinton's wipe out in W. Virginia, the people spoke. And he goes on to win victories in states that don't count on the Dem side. And yet to comedy continues. Hillary is a 'b*tch', Hilary is a 'c*nt' , Hillary is a 'sl*t', ... the list is endless and represented often on this blog. Why would we vote for someone of any type who hates us this irrationally?

[Frederic]

Didn't you know? We are still living in the year 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door for the same reason the Hagees and Robertsons sell their snake oil: It's the money, stupid!
I am neither Lutheran nor otherwise Christian, but I must say that Luther was right in looking through those fraudulent schemes - nothing has changed here in 500 years!

[southsideirish]

This is a really difficult subject matter. I think Jon Meacham seems to speak well on it, understanding our pluralist (and historically almost Unitarian/Deist nature.) We can't have religion (especially these maroons) running roughshod over the political landscape to turn us into a sequel to the "The Crucible" --"BACK TO SALEM: NOW WE'VE GOT NUKES!"-- Conversely, we can't utterly eject the language of the cosmic from the public forum--at least in an overall, "Where are we going? And what guides us and unites us?" sense. The search for God, or at least a truth greater than ourselves, is just part of our makeup as a species. So, ultimately, it effects our politics. (On the other hand, it certainly wasn't necessary for there to be a "God-off", which Meacham, himself, helped moderate.) I just think we don't need to get all in an uproar anytime someone mentions Jesus, Mohammed, Buddah, or Nietzsche in the public forum; but we absolutely should not be clamoring for it either. Let's just agree that we can have crosses, Stars of David, and Crescent Moons at Arlington National Cemetary, but no televangelists at the Inauguration.

[SouthFloridaDem]

We desperately need to get religion out of politics. Unfortunately, Democrats have moved toward the Republican way of including religion, rather than sticking to their guns and keeping the separation. If this country stays above the religious fray, we would have better standing in the world's problems that are caused by religion. The neutral party, if you will. But internally, these toxic men of God are more trouble than they're worth. They and religion have no place in the federal government -- or government at any level. Not in this country.

[JohnJames]

Good piece but I have to say that I find McCain especially reprehensible in this matter. With the exception of a few, like Carter, the sincerity of most politicians' professions of faith is questionable but McCain on the other hand is a man who all too clearly has no interest in religion beyond how it can be used to advance his ambitions. If I were a Christian I would be deeply offended at this cynical attempt to use my religion.

[goofy2]

I think the writer has every right to disagree with Wright or Hagee. His judgement however of what high or low plane either pastor or politician is on rests on some self-appointed status. Even his judgement that Obama chose religion as a political tool is far above his paygrade. I think it is certainly proper to show contrasts between the "agents of intolerance" McCain after some had wounded him unfairly and the 2008 McCain courting the Bush constituency for a nomination win - then ditching them after he ceased to need them to secure the nomination. I think it would be also fair to point out specific Obama behavior that might be suspect in this arena rather than simply assigning motives to make a point. What matters to me is a candate's tendency to base public policy on religious beliefs, which I detect in neither candidate. The presence of Karl Rove in the background of McCain's camp makes me suspect that one side, more than the other, is likely to pander hard right on religious issues, especially if it is seen as necessary.

[pubear]

I was with you until you brought up the french. Great article.

[Frederic]

Look a what happens in Myanmar: The "Generals" are religious superstitious idiots. Their "Leader" Shwe moved the capital hundreds of miles away because some astrological fraud told him to do this. No wonder he would not care for tens of thousands of deaths of his own people. That is what happens if superstition dominates politics. Alas, the oh so "modern" US succumbs to the mental sickness that has brought forth such monsters since the beginning of our known human history. American media simply report such atrocity, such a shame to human dignity, without an outcry. Why? Many of them are on the same level.

No basic difference between Shwe and Hagee and Robertson and Swaggard and the rest of the religious frauds.

[BlackandProud]

The USA Today printed a great "Faith And Politics" article earlier this year. It demonstrated that:

Christians give far more money to charities than non-Christians.

Christians are more involved in helping their local communities than non-Christians.

Christians adopt more children than non-Christians.

Christians are more environmentally conscience that non-Christians.

Christians commit less crime than non-Christians.

Christians give more money to social programs than non-Christians.

Christians use less alcohol and drugs.

Christians spend more time helping the elderly & the handicapped than non-Christians.

The list goes on. I hope that Clinton, Bush, Gore and Obama continue to profess their faith in God in the public arena whenever people ask them about their faith.

90% of Americans have faith in a higher power (78% Christian, 12% other than Christian) and 10% of Americans have no faith. It's time we honor the wishes of the majority, instead of the other 10% who whine about hearing words like "faith" & "God". It reminds me of a Lou Dobbs show that demonstrated how politicians cater to the 10% of poorest ad 10% of richest Americans and ignore the 80% in the middle.

It's time we cater to the 90% of believers in the middle.

[JohnJames]

Do you inhabit a parallel universe? In the one I live in Christians do not seem to be particularly better than everyone else and some are considerably worse than average or men like Parsley and Hagee would be out of work. By the way, in a different post you say supporters of the Iraq War have no credibility. Guess who were and remain among the most ardent enthusiasts for that war. Fundamentalist Christians.

[GoreSavingPlanetForJesus]

BlackandProud never said Christians were better than anyone else.

He simply stated facts about the amazing charitable contributions of America's wonderful Christian community.

I'm so thankful to be a part of it, along with other good Christians like Al Gore, George Bush, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee and Hillary Clinton.

I don't agree with all of their political stances, but I'm proud to stand beside each one as a Christian.

The bad apples like Wright, Hagee, Jackson and Robertson have not ruined the entire bunch. They've only ruined themselves. That's why 90% of Americans still have faith in Jesus or another higher power.

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life." -BARACK OBAMA, Jan 23, 2008

[southsideirish]

"Guess who were and remain among the most ardent enthusiasts for that war. Fundamentalist Christians."--That's not exactly true anymore. Most fundamentalist christians feel used by the GOP. I'd check out this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/11/young-evangelicals-abando_n_101184.html

In addition, I understand your passion. You're argument, however, far from refuted BlackandProud's statistics from a rather credible source.

[Lemeritus]

BlackandProud -- I'm not sure where you're getting your statistics, but they're very broad and might be open to debate.

Personally, I'm a jack Catholic (jack or not, I take great exception to Mr. Hagee's pronouncements on the church I grew up in; if anyone's going to 'dis' my team, I'll be the one to do it, thank you! -- we're all a little like that, wouldn't you agree?) I've never tried to shop my religion, but recently -- under sad circumstances -- I came across a small, simple church of such grace and kindness that the teachings of Christ made it glow even though no sermon was being given. (Methodist, if you're interested.) This was not the gleaming mega-church or boot-camp college of the Fallwells, or Hagees, or Robertsons. This was a place of God that spoke softly to the heart to do good things and remember the good things that had been done to you.

That said, BlackandProud, I count myself among the 90% of Americans who have faith in a higher power, but I condemn utterly the bastardization of faith that passes for religion as taught by these snake-handlers and charlatans who have lined their pockets with the hard-earned money of people who have turned to them in times of need for comfort. As part of the 90% in the middle, I don't want my candidate associated with any of them! Faith in God is not and never should be confused with faith in Hagee!

[BlackandProud]

Then we agree.

We both find the bastardization of faith to be despicable.

I like what GoreSavingPlanetForJesus said in response to JohnJames a couple posts down below this post- "The bad apples like Wright, Hagee, Jackson and Robertson have not ruined the entire bunch. They've only ruined themselves. That's why 90% of Americans still have faith in Jesus or another higher power."

I'm also proud to stand beside the likes of Obama, Gore and Bush who are opposites politically, but are still one family through faith in Christ.

I think these politicians got it right:

AL GORE:
"I believe the purpose of life is to glorify God" (Al Gore, Capital Hill testimony before the US Senate, March 22, 2007, audio available at npr.org)

"Faith is the center of my life" (Al Gore, New York Times, May 29, 1999)

"I freely acknowledge the role of faith in my life and the centrality of faith in my value system" (US News Online, "Al Gore, Running On His Faith")

HILLARY CLINTON:
"I've always been a praying person". "There must be room for religious people to live out their faith in the public square". "Where other see trouble, faith based soldiers see God's work right in front of them" (Boston Globe, jan. 20, 2005)

[wmg57]

I like to consider myself a recovering catholic.
Still can't shake the basic soul destroying guilt by being born through original sin thing but I'm working on it.
I hope there is a god because I'd love to ask him/her/it what the hell he/she/it's playin' at.

[Pyrrhus]

LOL hilarious.

Hey I got one, too. USAToday printed another article sometime where they cited the following:

Atheists give far more money to charities than Christians.

Atheists use significantly les alcohol and drugs.

Atheists commit more crimes than non-Christians.

Atheists have better hygiene than Christians, and are in general a bit smarter.

Atheists commit less sexual crimes with children than Christians, especially fundamentalist Christians.

See? I can say anything I want, too!

In other words, find the article and post it here in its entirety.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

We've been catering to religious types for 25 years now?

In what way has it improved the country?

[feo]

The problem with religion is so very simple that it's a mystery why people waste so much time blathering about it. Religion, simply stated, is the belief in things that are not true. If it were, we'd still be practicing human sacrifice to ensure good crops. Unless you consider that what Bush has done in Iraq to be human sacrifice--and I'm sure some do.

[JimReed]

Seth, those who don't know the history are in danger of making the same mistakes again, so let's go over what happened.

The United States of America responded to the problem of teen sex and cross border illegal abortion by making abortion legal. Christianity responded by becoming political, and the Republicans responded by offering them promises for votes. The rich used their many positions to direct the national conversation and convinced us if they became more rich they would trickle on us. Meanwhile, the world's population became too large to satisfy whithout painful concessions, so it was decided to temporarily set aside issues of poverty and the environment and lock down control for the good of conservative values. A war on terror was the easiest way to accomplish this. If it doesn't work it still might end up reducing the global population to a more managable level, and then religion can go back to being what it used to be.

[frankel1205]

You nailed it, Seth. The courting by politicians, of these very dangerous, greed mongering carny acts called "preachers" makes me physically ill. When the imagination of the citizenry is captivated by religous fundamentalism of any type, we are doomed as a country. We should look at the rest of the world to see what happens when clerics run the show. It is the march of folly. The best thing that could happen to the U.S. would be for a Secular Humanist to get elected to the White House.

[lewes17266]

It is so sad. A holyperson can be very dangerous. They have a lot of power over faithfuls.

Pat Robertson has made himself wealthy off of faithfuls and his adutlerer son is now poised to bilk the next generation of faithfuls. They use prayer and healing as money-making tools on their tv show. They claim to know the mind of God and so many souls watch that show and send those cons their money and take to heart their lies and gossip. Pat Robertson tells his viewers how to think and how to vote. He says that he is a prophet, a patriot, a descendent of royalty, a strongman and the media goes to this fraud for commentary regularly. It makes me sick. When I saw Giuliani standing next to Pat Robertson proudly accepting his endorsement, I cried.