Do I What?!
This article starts off with a pretty bizarre story.
The other day, I was reading an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in Newsweek when I had to stop and check that it was indeed Newsweek and not, say, Christianity Today. Yes, it was indeed Newsweek. And, after a series of questions about a variety of public policy issues, Dean was asked, out of the clear blue, the following question: “Do you see Jesus Christ as the son of God and believe in him as the route to salvation and eternal life?”
Really? Really?? I never read Newsweek, so I don’t know, but that is such a weird question that it strains credulity. I mean, was the reporter Billy Graham, or what? I wouldn’t at this point be surprised to hear that an American reporter had asked a candidate impertinent questions about religion, but that one is really off the deep end.
The real issue, though, is why this question even came up in a political magazine. Do we now have a religious test for public office—something that was explicitly rejected by the Founders of the United States of America?…But in the past few weeks, Dean has been the target of something dangerously close to a religious witch-hunt—and that should concern all of us, whatever our party affiliation or our political, religious, and moral convictions.
Indeed it should, and it does. All the more so since reading that loony question.
Our own British PM is very religious (something that should automatically disqualify someone from such a postion of responsibility IMHO). However, if anything he has to keep quiet about it. He certainly can’t make any political capitial of his beleifs. Apparently, on the eve of war he was drafting a speech to the troops, and had initially included a final “God Bless”. Campbell et al blanched at this and it was removed before making it to the speech.
Jeramy Paxman asked Tony Blair, on Newsnight, if he and George Bush had prayed together. You should have seen the guy’s face, he was so embarrased. He also made it clear that they had not prayed together and really wanted off the subject. He’s not been above leveraging the family man image from time to time, but he keeps stoom about his religion.
There seems to be a real difference between how religion is viewed in America to how it is viewed here. That is ironic because the UK has no formal laws of separation of church and State. Yet functionally things seem a lot more secular here. Religious fervour appears to run in approx 80 year cycles in the US. With any luck, and if precedent is anything to go by, the US is due a waning of religiosity in the coming years.
I think it was Douglas Adams who said that the UK had moved from wishy-washy Christianity to wishy-washy agnosticism. Anyone who states a fervent belief in a Higher Being in the UK tends to get either (a) the piss took out of them or (in more polite circles) (b) a funny look and a mental note that they should be avoided in future.
I know, I heard about that ‘God bless’ thing – commented on it in a N&C several months ago, as a matter of fact. When Campbell & co blanched, Blair was annoyed and exclaimed ‘You’re a godless lot, aren’t you!’ I criticised him for saying that, and if I remember correctly my colleague entered a mild plea in mitigation.
I did see the guy’s face, as a matter of fact – I saw that Paxman interview. I thought that bit was pretty hilarious. I actually thought Blair looked irritated rather than embarrassed though, and I thought the exasperated tone of his answer did a pretty good job of wrong-footing Paxman.
That waning can’t come too soon for me, but no doubt I’ll be dead before it gets here. There’s certainly no sign of it yet – to put it mildly. All the signs are the other way. Oh if only we had the choice between wishy-washy Xianity and wishy-washy agnosticism. All that’s on the menu is varying degrees of avowed religiosity.
Cathy Young is, we are told, ‘A REASON editor’, yet she has this curious statement in the article: “Like any other philosophy, religion can be a force for both good and bad.” So religion is a philosophy? The USA is fortunate to have a great body of philosophy to draw upon, in that case.
Yeah, I noticed that. I suppose that’s ‘philosophy’ in the vernacular sense, as in ‘What’s your philosophy of life?’ An unfortunate confusion.