Religion & Presidential Election: Candidates Talk About Their Faith & Its Impact on Political Life

releases.usnewswire.com ^

[chance33_98]

Religion and The Presidential Election: Candidates Talk About Their Faith and Its Impact on Their Political Life

1/9/04 1:06:00 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk, Political and Religion reporters

Contact: John Lynner Peterson or Don Parker, 202-639-6370, both of the Interfaith Alliance; http://www.interfaithalliance.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- With religion becoming a predominant theme in the 2004 presidential elections, The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) announced today the release of the first segment of their video interviews with eight of the nine 2004 Democratic candidates for President. The TIA Video Questionnaire focuses on the candidate's personal views on faith, how those views impact policy-making and where each candidate stands on issues related to religious pluralism and religious liberty.

"Religion is already playing an unusually high-profile role in the 2004 presidential campaign, and issues of faith will continue to be at the forefront of a national dialogue," said Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance national organization. "We need to know where each candidate stands on crucial issues such as religious liberty and pluralism, the use of religious rhetoric and how one's faith impacts public policy-making. These personal interviews offer a valuable insight into how the candidates view faith and its intersection with politics and their quest for elected office."

In videotaped interviews, the candidates candidly reveal their views on religion and politics, including:

-- Their own personal faith and religious background;

-- Instances in which their personal faith and values impacted public policy decisions;

-- How they would balance dictates of their faith with constitutional responsibilities as President;

-- The role of religious liberty and separation of church and state in the founding of America;

-- Faith-based initiatives;

-- Why is the Republican Party viewed as the party of faith and morality?

As part of TIA's election year program, "One Nation. Many Faiths. Vote 2004," the first video, audio, and text transcripts of the interviews are now on the website: http://www.interfaithalliance.org/electionsvideo

Transcripts of additional questions and answers will be released on Jan. 13 and Jan. 16. Contact Don Parker at dparker@interfaithalliance.org for those transcripts.

The candidates interviewed are Gen. Wesley Clark, Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Richard Gephardt, Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, and Ambassador Carol Moseley-Braun. President George W. Bush and Rev. Al Sharpton were invited to be interviewed but, to date, have not accepted. "We look forward to adding their perspectives on these issues, " Gaddy said.

He went on to say, "Religion should be a prophetic voice for inclusion--calling people of all religions, as well as those who affirm no religion, to cast a vote informed by both politics and religion, consistent with the core values of our democracy and our faith."

Founded in 1994, The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) is a non-partisan, clergy-led grassroots organization dedicated to promote the positive and healing role of religion in the life of the nation and challenging those who manipulate religion to promote a narrow, divisive agenda. With more than 150,000 members drawn from over 70 faith traditions, 47 local Alliances and a national network of religious leaders, TIA promotes compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity in our increasingly diverse society.

[Asclepius]

... and challenging those who manipulate religion to promote a narrow, divisive agenda ...

Translation: evangelicals, conservatives, orthodox, or anyone who might actually believe anything.

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
7	Maryland	990.00	21	47.14	334	2.96	293.00	14

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[LiteKeeper]

read later