Fun with Politics (147)

Forget the separation of Church and State: the hunt is on for conservative Christian voters. Whether they, indeed, are struggling to make up their mind remains to be seen; the Obama camp, in the meantime, isn’t taking any chances. Barack is courting the church crowds, while McCain sits idly by. Perhaps the Republicans expected Obama to stay away from religion, since the whole Jeremiah Wright deal didn’t go over so well? But then, McCain hasn’t booked a lot of successes either; his little flirtation with Pastor Hagee ended in a bitter break-up.

Time to ask the question: how does one go about getting the conservative Christian vote?

First there is the abortion issue: Obama is in favor of abortion rights (as is, by the way, the constitution) and McCain, although officially against (he’s proposed criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions), gives the impression he doesn’t really give a crap. No points for either.

Does it help if one attends church? For Obama that question has been answered: it depends on the church. McCain, once again, has been tight-lipped on that account. He was born and raised an Episcopalian, but now attends a Baptist church, and identifies himself as Baptist. He considers America a Christian Nation, and thinks that the most important thing for voters is to ask “whether their candidate will carry on in the Judeo-Christian principled tradition”.

I despise that term, Judeo-Christian. It suggests a brotherly bond, a certain sameness between Judaism and Christianity that doesn’t exist. Sure, we have things in common, but so do many faiths; and we disagree on the issue most central to the Christian Church, its backbone if you will, namely, the deity of Jesus Christ.

Use of the term Judeo-Christian also suggests that the Christian Church is willing to allow us Jews into its small circle of friends, at the exclusion of anybody else. No one has ever heard of a Buddha-Christian Coalition, or Muslim-Christian heritage. Leaving all other religions in the cold –not to speak of atheists- is unacceptable to anyone who has any respect for those differences that make us great. Plus, we can’t simply assume there is any kind of homogeny among either Christians or Jews. What McCain is really doing without saying it out loud, is reminding us that Obama’s middle name is neither Jewish nor Christian, but Arabic. I hesitate to guess how many Americans there still are with questions about that middle name.

The rights of gay Americans unfortunately also fall under the religion umbrella. Obama is for, McCain is against; he not only opposes gay marriage, he is also against gays serving openly in the military. I have never understood what the problem is; does he think that all gays fit the stereotypical Musicals and Fashion mold? By that rationale, he would think Lesbians are either truck drivers or high school football coaches; if that were the case, he should actively pursue these lesbian Wonder Women for his military purposes! Of course, I am being silly; the bottom line is that McCain’s verbal support of the party line has hardly convinced the conservative voters they should back him.

Highly publicized spats surrounding Wright (Obama) and Hagee, Dobson, and Parsley (McCain) make it even more likely that conservative voters stay home in the fall. And frankly, with snubs left and right, and more than one minister spewing hate-filled sermons, one must ask: Does either McCain or Obama really want these voters? How far does a candidate need to go to convince these voters to come out and place that oh-so important checkmark on the ballot?

And what about the conservative voters that aren’t just one issue voters; what will they do?