Faith and Political Candidates

This morning, I was watching Morning Joe, and caught Franklin Graham (the son of Billy Graham) being interviewed regarding the statement from Rick Santorum that appeared to question President Obama's Christian faith (Santorum has denied that intention).   Click HERE to watch a video of the exchange.

Now, I don't really care if Barack Obama is a Christian or not.  I understand it's important to many people, and that's their business.  What I can't get around is the idea that we'll believe EVERY other politician when they talk about their faith, but we can't really believe the current president is telling the truth when he talks about his religion.

When pressed, Graham said that he was sure Santorum was Christian.  Romney was Mormon, and "....most Christians wouldn't recognize a Mormon as being Christian...." (although he did say Mitt was a good man, and would be a good president), and that Newt was a Christian.  He was basing this on their morals, and they way they'd lived their lives.  Really - Newt makes the cut as a Christian. Based on the way he's lived his life.  Newt Gingrich, who had a long-term affair while married to his first wife, dumped her (and married the mistress) when she got sick, then did EXACTLY the same thing with his second wife.  The third wife (and former mistress) is still healthy, so we may assume he's faithful to her.  So, due to the way Newt has lived his life, we know he's a Christian.  Really.  Newt.

Lets be clear on this - all this talk about Obama's Christianity (or lack thereof) has little or nothing to do with any concern about his true faith.  Franklin Graham - and Rick Santorum - know full well that Obama is not a Muslim.  At the very least, he's a nominal Christian - he goes to church on occasion and invokes Jesus and God regularly in his language.  He's at least as Christian as most of the population.  No, this talk it all about politics, abortion, and racism.

More than anything, this whole thing is about politics.  Graham is trying to smear Barack Obama in the eyes of the electorate.  It doesn't matter if any of it it true or not - just talking about Obama and Islam in the same sentence will connect the two things in the public's mind.  And make no mistake - the references to Islam and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright are not accidental - it's a calculated strategy designed to paint the president as a radical.

When fundamentalist Christians talk about religion, much of it is about abortion, birth control, and women's rights.  That's why Newt's transgressions are forgiven - he "just" cheated on his wives.  Abortion and birth control are much graver sins, and anyone who is pro-choice is viewed as being insufficiently Christian.  There's certainly room for reasonable people to disagree about abortion - it's certainly not an easy subject for anyone.  I have a harder time understanding the anti-contraception folks, but they certainly have the right to feel that way.  For some of these people,you can't be pro-choice and still be a Christian.

There's no doubt that racism plays a part in the over-the-top criticism of President Obama.  Try as they may, many Americans just can't accept an African-American as their president.  That's where much of the "Birther" controversy comes from, and the continuing questions about his religion are another side of the same coin.  He just can't be American, can he?  How can we feel that this black man with the funny name is one of us?  He's foreign.  He's radical.  He's Muslim.  He's Different!

As I said at the top of this post, I don't care whether Obama is Christian or not - just as I don't care that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, or that Santorum and Gingrich are Catholic.  I am concerned when I see candidates indicate they'll be guided by their religion in their job as President of the United States.  More of a concern to me is the slimy attempt to demonize a political opponent, even causing harm to the country in the effort to make the other party look bad. 

We've not always been obsessed with our candidate's religious beliefs - Dwight Eisenhower wasn't a member of any church until he decided to run for president.  JFK overcame concerns about his Catholic faith.  Richard Nixon was a Quaker (but apparently not a fanatic about it).  I don't see the correlation between religion and the effectiveness of a president.  I do know I don't want elections decided based on rumors and innuendo.

I have zero respect for Franklin Graham, and his ilk.  If he doesn't like Barack Obama, let him say so, and say why.  What is it - religion, pro-choice policies, economic policies, or something else?  Whatever it is, just say it.  Man up - have the guts to say what you mean.  Don't sit there like a weasel and talk about "I take him at his word, I guess".  Throw it out there and make your argument.  Or, if you won't do that, you could do just one other thing.

Shut Up.