Opinion: Purpose-driven pandering
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Am I the only viewer of Rick Warren presidential forum to cringe when Barack Obama and John McCain offered their bona fides as believing Christians? Granted, the forum was at a church and Warren, who asked them about their faith, is an evangelist. Granted, also, that neither candidate discussed doctrine in detail. Still, consider these professions of faith: Obama avowed that ‘Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through him.’ McCain said that being a Christian meant that ‘I’m saved and forgiven.’
These are arguably boilerplate statements of Christian belief, and both candidates quickly segued into the political applications of their faith. Still, given the audience, the professions of faith bordered on pandering. Of course, I still think John F. Kennedy was right when he told Protestant ministers in 1960 that ‘I believe in a President whose views on religion are his own private affair, neither imposed upon him by the nation, nor imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.’
That statement sounds quaint now. McCain encountered little flak when he he expressed his belief that the president should be a Christian. Reflecting the conventional wisdom that Democrats must engage ‘people of faith,’ Obama has recanted his previous view that ‘we live in a pluralistic society, and ... I can’t impose my religious views on another.’ I think Obama was right the first time, if by ‘religious views’ one means ‘Jesus died for my sins’ as opposed to a nonsectarian formulation like ‘all men are created equal [and] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.’
Also weighing in my reaction is the way religion has been politicized in this presidential campaign. From Mike Huckabee’s video Christmas card to McCain’s jettisoning of John Hagee to Obama’s agonizing over whether to repudiate the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the ‘naked public square’ has been clothed with some pretty garish vestments.
Los Angeles Times photo by Genaro Molina.