Sermon for 19 September 2004, 1^st Unitarian Church of Alton,, Illinois

Ronald J. Glossop

I. Introduction

A. The 2004 U.S. election is likely to be just as close as the 2000 election when the Supreme Court decided who would be President on the basis of how to deal with the electoral votes of the state of Florida. The polls suggest that this election will be close and that we might again have a situation where the candidate with the greatest number of popular votes is not the one with the largest number of electoral votes.

1. An interesting sidelight for me is that in this discussion of red states and blue states, someone seems to have reversed the usual significance of these colors. Usually red refers to the more progressive or open-minded or egalitarian view (including the crimson of Harvard University, not to mention the red used by the Communists) while blue usually is the color of the conservatives who are not enthusiastic about change and talk about more equality (including Yale University). But now we have red states to indicate the Republicans and blue states to represent the Democrats. Well, I guess "Republican" and "red" do both start with the letter "r."

2. It is also the case that the word "religion" begins with the letter "r," and it does seem that in general the Republicans are more likely to be "religious" as that word is usually used, that is, more likely to believe in God, life-after-death, the sinfulness of variant beliefs and behaviors, and the value of the Bible while Democrats are more likely to be "agnostic," "secular," tolerant of new ideas and behaviors, and skeptical about the Bible's value as a source of truth. After citing election results in the past several elections, Eyal Press in The Nation of August 30 quotes Trinity College religion professor Mark Silk as saying, "Never before in American history have churches been tied so directly to one political party." Political commentator Michael Barone has noted, "Americans increasingly vote as they pray, or don't pray." In her article "Do the Democrats Have a Prayer?" in The Washington Monthly, Amy Sullivan, Princeton University doctoral student in sociology, concludes that "To become America's majority party again, the Democrats will have to get religion."

3. But a critical issue is exactly what does it mean to be a "religious person." Is that term to be restricted to fundamentalists (be they Christian, Jew or Muslim)? Or is the term "religious person" going to be taken as basically synonymous with "moral person," that is, a person committed to doing what is right? It seems that one thing the Democratic Party must do is to renovate the term "religious" so that it gets used in this non-fundamentalist way to indicate moral commitment and moral behavior rather than acceptance of some particular conservative Christian beliefs.

4. The situation has even led some non-fundamentalist Christians to issue calls to "Take Back the Faith." That is the title of an article by Jim Wallis in this month's Sojourners Magazine. Wallis asks, "How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and pro-American?" Applying his thesis to our topic, he says, "In an election year, the particular religiousity of a candidate, or even how devout they might be, is less important than how their religious and/or moral commitments and values shape their political vision and their policy commitments."

B. This election is also taking place in the midst of a cultural division in the United States, what has even been described as a "culture war." I just want to note how much this "culture war" is a phenomenon within the United States, which contains only 4 and a half percent of the world's population. If the whole world, or even just all of the world's people living in democracies, were allowed to vote in this election, there is little doubt that George W. Bush would have no chance at all of winning.

1. This cultural division is occurring within this country mainly because religion and religious ideas are so important here compared to the rest of the world. According to a 2002 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll, eighty-seven percent of Americans say that religion is important in their life. Seventy percent say that they "want the President to be a person of faith." This is true even for 67 percent of Democrats. In no other developed country would the figures be so high.

2. Add to this the fact that the religious right has been very successful in capturing use of the word "religion" to refer just to conservative Christian beliefs and attitudes. When people in the U.S. talk about religion in politics, will many of them be thinking of other sizable religious groups such as Roman Catholics or African-American Protestants or Mainline Protestants or Jews or Muslims? I doubt it.

3. Furthermore, the religious right has been very successful at making itself indispensable to the Republican Party. There was a time, not too long ago, when the Republican Party was considered generally the party of businessmen, both small business and big business. It was basically Ronald Reagan that brought Christians, and particularly conservative Christians, into the Republican Party on the grounds that something had to be done to stop the secularism that was taking over the country and preparing the way for our submission to godless Communism. Reagan preached that the Cold War also had to be won within this country and that that meant defeating secularism.

4. The tie between the Christian right and the Republican Party was reinforced in 1992 when the first George Bush alienated Pat Robertson and some of the other Christian right leaders by talking about "the New World Order" as a consequence of the breakup of the Soviet Union and the resulting new possibilities for the U.N. to run the world as had been anticipated in 1945. Bush, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., was too close to that instrument of the Anti-Christ for Robertson. I believe that lack of enthusiastic support from the Christian right was one factor in the older Bush's not being reelected in 1992.

5. Newt Gingrich and the Christian right scored an unanticipated victory in the Congressional elections of 1994, doing this largely by grassroots efforts to energize conservative Christians who had previously not bothered to vote. Even those Republicans who weren't particularly religious began to see that these conservative Christians were an important constituency for their Republican Party.

6. In the close election of 2000 it became even more evident how much the Republicans need the conservative Christian vote. Without that support, they would not have had that close election decided by the Supreme Court.

7. According to an article in The Christian Science Monitor of September 14 Bush presidential adviser Karl Rove has indicated that a group to be targeted in the upcoming election is the four million religious conservatives who didn't turn out to vote in the year 2000. The Republican Party is becoming ever more beholden to this constituency. If Bush wins in 2004, this group will become even more influential within the Republican Party.

C. Although my focus is on the election of the President, much of what I have said and will say also applies to the voting for Senators and Representatives. The voting to determine who controls the Senate will be close. At this time it looks like Democrat Barack Obama will probably win the Senate seat in Illinois while in Missouri it looks like Republican Christopher Bond will win against Democratic challenger Nancy Farmer.

II. At this point I want to turn our attention to an article "Seven Myths about Faith and Politics" by Steven Waldman of website <www.beliefnet.com>. It appeared in Slate magazine. Contrary to what you might expect from the title, some of the myths turn out to be basically correct, but nevertheless he makes some interesting observations .

A. Myth #1. Evangelicals all vote Republican [not all, but in fact most do]

1. He begins by noting that at least 10 million white "evangelical Christians" voted for Gore in the 2000 election, so not all of them voted for Bush.

2. Most fundamentalists vote Republican, but there are moderate evangelicals who are not fundamentalists. Waldman calls them "freestyle evangelicals." They voted 55% for Clinton in 1996 against 45 % for Dole, but in a major shift they voted 55% for Bush against 45% for Gore in 2000. That represents a swing of about one million votes that Clinton got but Gore, who put little emphasis on religion, didn't.

B. Myth #2. The religious right flooded the polls for George W. Bush in 2000 [they didn't because they just didn't vote at all, but they might in 2004].

1. In fact the proportion of religious right people who voted was 56 percent, a bit above the national average but a lower proportion than that of devout Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Jews.

2. BUT the proportion of the religious right that voted was higher in 2002, and the Republicans are working hard to make it even higher in 2004. They know that these Christian fundamentalists are not likely to vote for any Democrat.

C. Myth #3. Bush's religion talk has appealed to his base but has alienated moderate swing voters [no, because many of them are also religious].

1. 56 percent of independents think he mentions his religious faith just the right amount, and Democrats agree.

2. Thus attacking Bush's religiousity is not a good strategy for Democrats.

D. Myth #4. In this era, no candidate would lose votes just based on his or her religion [in fact, they might lose votes due to lack of religion or too much enthusiasm for the wrong religion].

1. Polls indicate that that seems to be true for Jews and Catholics, but not for atheists, evangelicals, and Muslims. They would lose votes just because of their religion.

E. Myth #5. Most religious extremists are in the GOP [but this is a verbal trick].

1. Yes, most fundamentalists are Republicans.

2. But if "extremist" means outside of the public opinion norm one must also take account of extremists on the other end of the spectrum, that is atheists and agnostics, and most of them are Democrats. In 1992 60% of the first-time white delegates to the Democratic convention claimed no attachment to religion. [But for most people the term "religious extremists" wouldn't include atheists and agnostics.]

F. Myth #6. Hispanics are conservative.

1. This may be true for the Cuban Hispanics in Florida who are overwhelmingly Republican. But Catholic Hispanics are at the national average of 54% in opposition to gay marriage and are not as conservative as Hispanic Protestants.

2. Only 10 % of Catholic Hispanics are "religious traditionalists" rather than "moderates" or "secularists."

G. Myth #7. The key to the Catholic vote is abortion.

1. The Catholic vote shifts a great deal from election to election: 26 points more for Democrat Humphrey than Republican Nixon, but Republican Reagan won them by 21 points. Clinton won them by 20 points but Gore only by 6.

2. Many Catholics are pro-life, but they also tend to be interested in social issues like health care and peace, so Bush's "compassionate conservatism" could attract some Catholic voters as much as his position on abortion.

H. Though Jews have traditionally voted Democratic, Republicans are hoping to gain some support from them on the basis of the administration's support for Israel and the removal of Saddam (whom the Israelis greatly disliked) from power. On the other hand, most Jews are likely to continue voting Democratic because the Democrats support Israel as much as the Republicans and because the Jews tend to be with the Democrats on other issues like gun control, the rights of women and of homosexuals, more effective protection of the environment, government help for the poor and unemployed, strict separation of state and religion, more funds for Social Security and Medicare, and more financial support for public education.

III. The issue of the extent to which religion must be kept separate from politics is itself a political issue.

A. Not unexpectedly throughout history religious minorities have been much more concerned about this issue of church-state separation and tolerance of unpopular views than members of popular religions who don't need to worry about being forced to accept the views of a different religion.

B. Non-fundamentalist religious organizations fighting to maintain this separation have formed an organization called The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), which describes itself as "People of Faith and Good Will Restoring a Healthy Democracy." Notice that word "restoring." Their obvious concern is what they perceive as the increasing influence of the religious right on the government through the agency of the Republican Party. They are concerned about the extent to which some religiously conservative committed individuals who get elected to public office will try to impose their beliefs and values on the whole community.

C. Here are the kinds of questions TIA want their members to ask candidates:

1. What role should & do your personal religious faith & values play in creating public policy?

2. What are your views regarding the Constitutional guarantee of the separation of church and state?

3. What active steps have you taken and will you continue to take to show respect for the variety of religious beliefs among your constitutents?

4. Should a political leader's use of religious language reflect the language of his/her religious tradition or be more broadly inclusive?

5. How do you balance the principles of your faith and your pledge to defend the Constitution, particularly when the two come into conflict?

D. Among the specific things The Interfaith Alliance has accomplished is to stop Republican-sponsored legislation that would have allowed houses of worship to engage in political activity and still maintain their status as tax-exempt organizations, stop Republican-sponsored legislation which would have permitted houses of worship to "accidentally" endose political candidates, and to oppose the Republican-supported Federal Marriage Amendment Bell to prohibit same-sex marriages.

E. Although the TIA aims to be non-partisan, it is evident that most of their work is opposing Republican efforts to break down the separation of church and state.

IV. There are three specific issues on which the Republicans will focus, hoping that voters will cast their vote on the basis of these issues rather than paying any attention to others. One link to these "hot-button" issues that will be emphasized by both Republicans and Democrats is the anticipated appointment of Supreme Court Justices by the next President during the next four years.

A. The legality of any abortion, including the so-called "partial-birth abortion," will be challenged by Republicans as allowing murder of a helpless human being.

1. An important recent development relative to this abortion issue has been the declaration by various leaders in the Catholic Church that it is O.K. for Catholics to vote for pro-choice candidates if that is not the reason for voting for them and if the candidate's views on other moral issues outweigh their view on abortion.

B. Homosexual marriage and the tacit approval of homosexuality that comes with it will be attacked by the Republicans as one more step toward a permissive society that puts no limits on sexual behavior.

1. On the homosexuality issue, it is worth noting that at the Republican national convention there were 40-60 openly gay delegates and that there are at least three Republican groups for gays and lesbians. The largest goes by the name "Log Cabin Republicans" while the two other smaller, more moderate groups are "Republicans for Choice" and "Republican Youth Majority." These groups failed to prevent the party platform from advocating an amendment to the Constitution banning same-sex marriages. The platform also still condemns civil unions and any legal recognition for same-sex partners. It seems that Republican gays and lesbians are likely to have a hard time finding a place in that party.

C. Government support of faith-based initiatives for welfare services will be touted as one of George W. Bush's great achievements in stopping discrimination against religion-based approaches to dealing with drug-addiction, crime, poverty, and sexual promiscuity which results in under-age mothers as well as the spread of AIDS.

D. For some time it seemed that stem-cell research would be another issue in this category, but Mrs. Reagan's support for it has removed it from this list of key issues.

E. Prayer in schools and "under God" in the pledge of allegiance seem no longer to be the big issues they once were, but that could change at any moment.

V. The struggle between the opposing sides in this election is likely to be very bitter, partly because of the fear on both sides of what being overcome by the other side would mean for the future.

A. The Christian conservatives will be supporting Republicans on the basis that it is the only way to stop the secularism and consequent immorality which is sweeping this country. They believe that if this secularization of U.S. society is not stopped, the United States will become as godless as the rest of the world, and we will lose our special status as God's "chosen" people who provide a beacon of belief in God and religion-based morality to the rest of the world.

1. But there will be some potential Republicans that will refuse to support what they regard as the lack of compassion for the unfortunate, both in this country and in the rest of the world, displayed by some policies and practices of the Republic Party.

2. Many religious conservatives just won't vote on the grounds that government policies just don't matter. God cares about individual souls, not government policies, and Christians should "render unto God the things that are God's and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." This was the attitude of St. Augustine, and it continues to influence many Christians.

B. On the other side, liberals and non-Christians are very suspicious of Christian conservatives and what they are likely to do if they gain control of the society. That would mean the end of freedom of religious belief, which is one of the main things that this country is all about. All the gains for freedom and tolerance of differences in belief that were made during the American and French revolutions will be rolled back and the religious views of some will be imposed on everyone else. Some of what may come is already apparent in the efforts to get the teaching of "creation science" into the public schools.

1. But there will be some potential Democrats, including some Christian African-Americans, that will back away from what they regard as insufficient effort to stop the immorality and violence that is sweeping through their communities and which they are likely to attribute to the decreasing influence of their churches and the loss of religious belief due to secular education.

2. Some liberals are likely to vote for Nader rather than Kerry on grounds that Kerry is not different enough from Bush to make a difference even if he gets elected. If Bush gets elected again by a small margin where those voting for Nader make the difference, the anger of the Democrats toward supporters of Nader will be intense. But perhaps it is not appropriate to even mention this Nader factor in this talk since it does not seem to be related to religion, no matter how important it may be to the outcome of the election.

VI. At the end of this talk let me return to the issue of the use of the word "religion." Because of the views of President Bush and his readiness to talk about his religious views, there is a tendency (in this context of the coming election) to take the word "religion" to refer to the views of one particular religious group, namely, conservative Christians or the Christian right.

A. But we need to remember that there are many other sizable religious groups in this country whose religious views will also influence how they vote: Roman Catholics, African-American Protestants, Main-line Protestants, Jews, and Muslims.

B. There are also other kinds of "religious" groups which are smaller but which collectively do make a difference: Hindus, Buddhists, UUs, secularists. and so on.

C. It is doubtful, however, if any of these other groups are as connected with one political party as the Christian fundamentalists are with the Republicans.

VII. One of the important issues relevant to the influence of religion in this upcoming election is the issue of who actually turns out to vote.

A. As already noted Karl Rove, chief advisor to Bush, points out that there were 4 million religious conservatives in the country who did not vote in the 2000 election, and he aims to change that in 2004.

B. On the Democratic side there are several groups including America Coming Together and Moveon.com working hard to get more people registered to vote and then to vote.

C. I hope that everyone in this congregation will be sure to vote in this election. It seems that it is likely to be one of the closest, most significant elections in the history of the country, and it could well be a turning point with regard to the future relation between religion and politics in this country.