As I get ready for this Sunday’s Compassion Forum, I keep repeating to myself the French maxim: “Les absents ont toujours tort” (Who said that? La Rochefoucauld? When in doubt always say La Rochefoucauld).
The proverb translates as “those who are not present are always wrong” and my guess is that senators Obama and Clinton will discuss at length what they view as the wrongfulness of (the absent) John McCain’s policies, not to mention those of the party that he represents.
This raises the question as to why the Senator from Arizona declined the invitation to participate from the sponsoring group, Faith in Public Life.
One possibility is that he didn't want to prevent the Democrats from continuing to kick one another's heads in. The Obama and Clinton campaigns are not only sapping one another's energy (and money) but graciously identifying weaknesses in one another's candidates for the GOP to exploit in the fall.
Still, if this was McCain's rationale I think he was mistaken. For my prediction is that Obama and Clinton will suppress their reflexes and refrain from enfilading one another. Those expecting a repeat of that raucous, zinger-filled Congressional Black Caucus Institute Debate with its parrying, pugilism and perfect ill-will are likely to be disappointed. On the contrary, the senators will be doing the discursive equivalent of wearing their Sunday Best.
After all, the headlines coming out of the event can't very well be CLINTON JACKS UP OBAMA AT COMPASSION FORUM!: MCCAIN:"I FELT BAD FOR BARACK." or, BARACK SMACKS DOWN HILLARY AT RELIGIOUS COLLEGE DEBATE!: MCCAIN:"I FELT BAD FOR CLINTON" In short, the candidates will be taking the high road—the road less traveled.
This is not to say that the evening will be dull or lacking substance. I do expect less spectacle, less rancor and less "dialogue" between the belligerents. But given the format--which seems immune to sound-biting and provides us with skilled moderators--we may hear some well-rehearsed monologues and impromptu asides that afford glimpses into what the candidates truly believe about the proper role of religion in American politics.
On their website Faith in Public Life notes that a variety of issues will be addressed such as global AIDS, climate change, poverty and human rights. I would be surprised if abortion and gay rights did not come up as well.
"Men," as La Rochefoucauld pointed out "give away nothing so liberally as their advice." So I meekly submit that it would be swell if the candidates shared their views on Church/State separation too. As I have noted elsewhere, this topic has been strategically expunged from Democratic Party rhetoric in 2008. All I can say is that its continuing absence in national debate may be leading more and more to assume that everything about secularism is plain wrong.
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.
