After last November’s election, a frustrated member of a Mennonite congregation near South Bend, Indiana, wrote an article for his congregation’s newsletter. In it, he articulated his own political convictions.
The plans of Sinclair Broadcasting to show an anti–John Kerry documentary days before the November 2 election “demand restoring the personal attack rule and the Fairness Doctrine,” urged Gloria Tristani, a former Federal Communications Commission member who now directs the communications office of the United Church of Christ.
Less than a month before the national election, the Democratic National Committee unveiled a new Web site for religious voters, as well as a new director of religious outreach, after some earlier campaign fumbles.
In the previous issue, Mark Noll, a distinguished church historian, indicated his intention to sit out the upcoming presidential election because no candidate or national party reflects his sense of the pressing issues of the day (None of the above, September 21).
Despite the attention given to religious issues in this year’s presidential race, three public opinion experts have stated that the political force of faith and ethics questions has been overblown. Their assessment was not as blunt as the 1992 dictum “It’s the economy, stupid!,” but they came close.
As has been the case for the past few presidential elections, on Election Day I will almost certainly cast my vote once again for none of the above. Here is why:
Mainline Protestant denominations have steadily declined in membership for four decades in the U.S., so it was not surprising to learn recently that Protestants overall are losing, or have lost, their status as the nation’s religious majority.
With a full-page ad in the New York Times, a flashlight-illuminated protest on Broadway and a plea from rock star Bono for spiritually motivated, poverty-fighting activism, the Religious Left sent a message to the presidential candidates and the voters during the Republican Convention.
Shortly before the start of his party’s national convention, Vice President Dick Cheney surprised many of his and President Bush’s most conservative supporters by publicly differing with the president on the issue of same-sex marriage.
Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and now a Republican strategist, admitted that he accepted $1.23 million in consulting fees tied to Indian-run gambling casinos, the Washington Post has reported.
