{"id":101,"date":"2008-08-28T15:47:34","date_gmt":"2008-08-28T15:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/progressiverevival\/2008\/08\/religion-and-the-election.html"},"modified":"2008-08-28T15:47:34","modified_gmt":"2008-08-28T15:47:34","slug":"religion-and-the-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2008\/08\/religion-and-the-election.html","title":{"rendered":"The Race for Pastor-in-Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Democratic National
\nConvention to share my concerns about the misuse of religion during
\nthis election – from both parties. The following is remarks I shared at
\na Faith Caucus meeting just this afternoon:<\/p>\n

An electoral process that culminates on Election Day with a high percentage of voter turn-out is to a celebration of democracy what observances of Rosh Hashanah, Eid al-Fitr, Diwali, and Christmas are to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians respectively.<\/p>\n

Voting is a sacred act in our civic religion.<\/p>\n

But the grand promise of an American presidential campaign is fulfilled by the election not of a religious-leader-in-chief of the nation, but of the commander-in-chief who is the chief executive of our country.<\/p>\n

The leader we choose may have a faith of his own, but he must lead members of all faiths present in the nation – as well as those with no faith at all. The Constitution forbids the legal enshrinement of anyone’s religious beliefs, so voters need to know how candidates are prepared to translate their beliefs into policy statements based on universal values.<\/p>\n

Those of us who speak of electoral guidelines and advocate adherence to boundaries between institutional religion and partisan politics do so not as stuffy legalists wishing to mute all religious language or pour cold water on the white hot excitement of devotees of a particular candidate.<\/p>\n

We call for attentiveness to the proper role of religion in campaigns as thankful citizens who know the importance of religion in a society and recognize in democracy our best hope as a nation.<\/p>\n

Insistence on the proper role of religion in the life of the nation is essential–a non-negotiable–for the good of religion, for the constitutional protection of non-religious people, and for the vitality of democracy.<\/p>\n

American civil law governing relations between clergy and candidate is uneven. A candidate can turn the pulpit or bema of a house of worship into a political stump – ignoring the non-partisan nature of prayer, faith, worship, meditation, and religious identity – without incurring even as much as a civil reprimand.  The house of worship, however, could be threatened with the loss of tax-exempt status for allowing the candidate to campaign there.
Some of the rules that houses of worship must follow to keep their tax exempt status are clear: <\/p>\n