Senator Bradley's Religion

The American presidency desperately needs a return to privacy, even including religious beliefs..

BY: Andrew M. Greeley

To begin with, I could not possibly vote for former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.. Not that it matters, for by the time of the Illinois primary later this spring, neither my vote nor that of anyone else in our state will matter.

No, the real reason I cannot vote for the former senator is that he played on the hated New York Knicks. It would be unpardonable for a Chicago Bulls fan -- admittedly now in remission -- to vote for a Knick for president! Or anything! Wouldn't it?

That being made clear, I still have to admire Bradley's resolute refusal to discuss his religion at a time when all the other candidates are parading their piety.

Indeed, the former senator's campaign posture of maintaining privacy about his advisers, his reading habits, his favorite philosopher and the date of his wedding anniversary is admirable.

The American presidency desperately needs a return to privacy. It is nowhere written in the Constitution, to say nothing of elementary canons of morality, that a president of our republic loses his right to a private life.

There is no doubt Bradley is a religious man. Rumor even has it the former senator has some Jesuit friends. No good can come of that in a country where a Roman Catholic priest can't be chaplain of the House of Representatives.

But suppose he was not? Would this be a character flaw? Would this mean he could not be trusted to lead the country? Would this mean his abilities and proposed policies and goals were somehow deficient?

Many evangelicals would think so, but do they determine the political values of this republic as well as those of the incumbent House of Representatives? Have we not had enough presidents who were practicing believers and failures in the presidency to call this theocratic notion into question? Do we really want a religious test for holding public office?

But, it will be said, the president is a celebrity. If you become a celebrity then you are freely giving up you privacy -- just like Leonardo DiCaprio or Michael Jordan. In fact, if we reduce the presidency to the status of an actor or a basketball player (even, admittedly, the best in the history of the sport), we do violence to the office and to the country over which the occupant of the office presides.

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