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Gotta have faith

Washington Monthly, Sept, 2003

Amy Sullivan's article, "Do the Democrats Have a Prayer" (June) is good advice for Democratic presidential candidates. Let's hope they are listening.

To be viewed as sincerely religious, a candidate must have a personal history of integrity, good moral character, and religious conviction, preferably attending services at church or synagogue. Such persons are in short supply, especially among those considered to have enough experience and communication skills to he taken seriously as political candidates. Of those Democrats running, Joe Lieberman may be the only one who can he credible on the two qualities needed to heat George Bush: 1) toughness on defense and national security; and 2) the ability to, as Sullivan wrote, "speak the language of faith sincerely:" Yet he may lack other superficial qualities that the electorate seems to favor; good looks and charisma.

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Sullivan also recognizes that Democrats are not likely to win many hardcore anti-abortion Catholics and Christian conservatives, but she may not realize the extent of the pressure that the Catholic clergy and Catholic friends put on all practicing (e.g. churchgoing) Catholics to vote for pro-life candidates, or, as they tell us in coded language, to "vote your conscience."

In my Catholic parish, something is said about the evils of abortion almost every Sunday, and when elections are coming up brochures are handed out as we leave Mass, telling us which candidates are pro-life (mostly Republicans) and which are not (mostly Democrats). Fortunately for the Democratic Party, many practicing Catholics still vote for Democrats, despite the pressure and despite the candidates' pro-choice stance. But the Democrats in Congress don't make it easy, with most of them having just voted against a ban on partial-birth (usually late-term) abortions, which even Pat Moynihan called infanticide.

Gerald B. Fitzgerald

Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Many religious liberals today are in fact opposed to the efforts of the Bush administration and the Christian right to take our nation back to a time before President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when the federal government was not a part of most Americans' lives. The current administration seems set on rolling back the progress of the New Deal, Social Security, and other programs that provide help for poor and middleclass Americans--programs that a majority of people ha this nation want to keep as they are, as a safety net for the poor and middle class.

A Democrat could criticize the White House on these grounds, while appealing to the religious concerns of many Americans. Why are the current Democratic presidential candidates so afraid of talking about faith?

In addition to your recent article, "Do The Democrats Have A Prayer," I am reminded of two articles from the Monthly's December 1995 issue that also explored similar topics: "Why We Need a Religious Left" by Amy Waldman and "What's Un-Christian About the Christian Right" by Jonathan Rowe.

Richard Peterson

Pittsboro, N.C.

I believe the stronger a politician's faith, the less he or she will put that faith out there for show. We will know them instead by their good deeds, good policies, and humility.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisvlle, Ky.

Gotta have faith

Washington Monthly, Sept, 2003

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