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January 23, 2004/Tevet 29 5764, Vol. 56, No. 18
God and politics
FLORENCE ECKSTEIN
Publisher
It annoys me when football players huddle in prayer prior to a game, presumably imploring God to grant them a win over their opponents. How silly. Even if God were a sports fan, I can't imagine the deity would care who wins the game.
If invoking God on the football field is an innocuous act, bringing God's name and power into play in the political arena is anything but.
The United States' secular democracy has made our nation one of the few places in the world in which Jews and other minorities have lived safely and securely for many generations.
Our federal Constitution is a purposefully secular document. Article VI stipulates that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
The First Amendment to the Constitution reinforces the secular nature of our nation in declaring: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The 2004 U.S. presidential campaign is testing the secular character of our nation, as religiosity gets in the way of substantive debate on the merits of the candidates and their positions on issues of national consequence.
"Expect some Republicans to wage religious warfare by trotting out God as the new elephant in the race, and some Democrats to respond with hypocrisy, by affecting deep religious convictions," writes New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof.
President George W. Bush had helped set the stage, publicly avowing his evangelical faith and repeatedly making gestures of conciliation to religious groups. Vice President Dick Cheney recently upped the ante when he sent out a Christmas card quoting Benjamin Franklin: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground with His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
Then there's Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who propelled religious positioning to a new level when he told reporters his favorite book in the New Testament is Job.
Democratic hopeful Joseph Lieberman, mercifully, has neither flaunted nor hidden his Jewish faith, explaining it as a private matter.
As if world terrorism, national security, economic wellbeing and our endangered environment weren't enough, American Jews worry also about growing anti-Semitism, Israel's fate, the influence of the religious right on public policy, public funding of religious institutions, and governmental meddling in personal matters.
The standards by which we measure our elected officials must never involve private religious faith - or lack of faith. Rather, in deciding who should lead our country for the next four years, let's look to each candidate's sanity, vision, principles, integrity, knowledge and understanding, experience, leadership strength, diplomacy skills, and belief in our nation.
As we move forward toward the November general election, let's not allow God to become a political football.
Contact the writer at flo_eckstein@jewishaz.com.
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