If presidential candidates increasingly feel the need to speak about their religious faith, that isn't something happening in a cultural vacuum. It reflects the era in which we live, in which what was once considered "personal" and "private" has been pushed way into the public domain.
If popular television is any indication, Americans thrive on self-revelation. Politicians are, quite naturally, sensitive to this trend, and many are happy to talk about their religious selves as a means of connecting with voters.
Is that "appropriate?" Yes, it can be--but under two conditions. Like many of my fellow panelists here, I reject the idea of a candidate using religion in a politically manipulative way, as a signal to that part of the electorate with "ears to hear" (to borrow a phrase). That can be poisonous to politics and religion as well. I also believe that a candidate's religion should not be accorded a status apart from the other formative ideas and influences in his or her life.
Given that the stakes in electing someone as president are so enormously high, one hopes voters will truly focus on discovering what a candidate's political agenda is. Within this line of questioning, it is perfectly fair to ask a politician, what shaped you and your view of the world? It may well be religion, but not always. And if it's not, then voters and journalists ought to take heed--there are other potentially important things waiting to be said.
As an example, we might recall the question--one of the most revelatory ones in the entire 2000 campaign--that a television interviewer posed in Iowa, during a forum of the then-six Republican presidential candidates. Name the political philosopher who's had the most impact on your life, he said. Many will remember that George Bush answered, "Jesus Christ," and went on briefly to describe a conversion experience.
But what some other candidates said was equally instructive: Steve Forbes claimed John Locke as his guiding light and John McCain cited Theodore Roosevelt. Those statements were possibly valuable in understanding the two men's characters. Regrettably, they were pretty much lost amidst the commentary that followed Bush's remarks.
What Forbes and McCain said might have been probed further and left us with a lesson about how broadly we might reflect on the various personal qualities (religious faith, political beliefs, understanding of history, relationships with family and friends) that drive political campaigns.
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