Is it just my imagination or are Faith and Values issues less central to the current campaign than many of us thought they would be? It seems like an eternity since the Republican Simi Valley debate of last May--the one where three anti-evolution candidates raised their hands to the skies like Cro-Magnon men rejoicing over newly discovered fire. How things have changed. I first took note of this following the Republican debate of early October -- an event that was surprisingly light on God Talk. Religious themes were also few and far between at the MSNBC Democratic get-together on Halloween eve. And at last Thursday’s Las Vegas debate -- the one where John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama all started Kung Fu Fighting -- faith-based chit-chat was kept to an absolute minimum.
What to make of this? The absence of such discussions might be a mere coincidence, reflecting the whims of the news divisions who choreographed the debates on those nights. Then again, maybe this is no coincidence at all. It could be that the networks (and their audiences) are growing tired or bored of political grandstanding in God’s name.
Let me spice up the broth by pointing out that while little is currently being said about religious concerns in nationally televised debates, the candidates are participating in events specifically devoted to religious concerns. There was, for example, last October’s so-called Values Voters Summit--the one where Rudy Giuliani politely double dared the Christian Right to abandon him. In June, CNN aired a Presidential Forum on Faith, Values and Poverty featuring leading Democrat contenders--the one sponsored by progressive Evangelicals who intend to make themselves heard in 2008.
It emerges from this that religiously based discussion in recent months has been de-centered and compartmentalized. It presently occupies its own discrete space within the palace of electoral politics. This might indicate that the issues situated at the intersection of religion and public life are so important that they require their own special forum to be properly engaged.
More cynically, one might surmise that faith-tinged politicking is now being strategically targeted to a significant niche market. Thus, God Talk has become a side show served up for the Values Voters. Remember them?
Whatever the motivations of the campaigns and news divisions might be, my guess is that Americans, religious, secular and secularly religious alike, are interested in one basic question. I look forward to an honest Faith and Values debate--one where each candidate offers clear answers regarding what is and is not the proper role of religion in public life.
Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Chair in Jewish Civilization in Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and senior advisor to the Center for Jewish Civilization, where he was director from 2006 to June 2020. Berlinerblau has published on a wide variety of issues ranging from the sociology of heresy and modern Jewish intellectuals to African-American and Jewish-American relations.
