Religion and the US race
2008-02-11 14:16
Dallas - In a US election campaign where presidential candidates from both major parties have talked openly about their Christian faith, some non-Christians feel shut out or turned off.
Despite the constitutional separation of church and state,
religion plays a big and sometimes decisive role in politics in
America, where levels of belief and regular worship are far
higher than those in Europe.
"Non-Christians are concerned that they will be excluded
from the process," said Ahmed Rehab, a spokesperson with the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"I welcome faith values if they inspire candidates to do
good things. But I worry if it is used as a litmus test to
include someone in political participation."
75% Christian
About 75% of the US population, long a melting pot
of immigrants from around the world, identifies itself as
Christian, according to several estimates.
That is a huge but divergent source of potential votes for
Republican and Democratic candidates in their long contest for
the nomination to run for the White House in the November
election.
US politicians are not shy of talking about their
religion and regularly appear in church.
In recent decades, part of the American political drama has
been scripted by the "religious right" - mostly white
evangelical Protestants united by strong opposition to abortion
and gay marriage who have been a key base of support for the
Republican Party.
Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee, who scooped up strong
evangelical support, is a Baptist preacher who peppers his speeches with Biblical allusions.
John McCain has long sought to smooth relations after including leaders of the religious right among those he called "agents of intolerance"
during his failed presidential bid in 2000.
Mitt Romney, who has since left the Republican race, is a Mormon who was moved to address questions about his faith in a speech in December
The leading Democratic presidential contenders have also
been open and candid about their faith.
That faith, and that of the Republican candidates, is
Christian, although candidates have also spoken about the need
for religious tolerance.
A false rumour that has circulated on the internet about
Democratic candidate Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, is
that he is Muslim who has lied about his religion. The rumour
appears to illustrate the importance some voters attach to a
candidate being Christian.
Leave religion out of the race, some say
Estimates of the numbers of non-Christians in America vary.
Some put the percentage of atheists, agnostics or
"unaffiliated" at between 15 and 18% of the population
of 300 million.
Jews, Muslims, Hindus and people of other religions make up
fewer than 10% of the population.
Standing in a Hindu temple in a Dallas suburb before
statues of his religion's deities, Tejas Karve says he
understands why the candidates stress their commitment to
Christianity. But it does leave him with a sense of exclusion.
"I think it's geared more towards Christians because that's
the majority. It's incomprehensible for them (Americans) to
have a candidate who's not Christian," the 26-year-old pilot,
who immigrated from India eight years ago, told Reuters.
"I do believe they leave (non-Christians) out to a point."
Political professions of faith leave some unmoved.
Who cares?
"Why is that relevant? Who cares? The great issue is where
do we stand on Medicare and Social Security and immigration ...
Why inject religiosity into that?" asked Paul Kurtz, chairperson
of the Council for Secular Humanism.
"Are we (secular humanists and atheists) marginalised? No.
Are we turned off? Yes!"
Atheists and agnostics have long been targets of the
religious right who see moral decay in secularisation.
Some critics say those without a religion were singled out
in the speech by Romney in which he sought to ease concerns
among Republican evangelicals about his Mormon faith.
He said "freedom requires religion" - implying that it
could not exist without it - and criticised those who "seek to
remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God ... It
is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in
America - the religion of secularism. They are wrong."
A Pew Research Centre survey last year found that 63% of those polled said they would be "less likely" to support a presidential candidate who did not believe in God.
But those who say they are "unaffiliated" or atheist are
very keen to cast their ballots. Pew data shows that 82% of them are very or somewhat likely to vote. At 90%, evangelicals are the only group more likely to vote.
- Reuters