Posted on 09/11/2006 11:33:04 AM PDT by weegee
GOVERNOR'S RACE
Contrasting views emerge on the mix of faith, politics
Candidates make their beliefs known in wake of national push for a piece of religious vote
AUSTIN - God is everywhere in the race for Texas governor.
And in this crowded field, there's plenty of room for interpretation on just what it means to bring faith to public service.
Is it Gov. Rick Perry campaigning against gay marriage and signing abortion restrictions into law at a church school gym?
Is it Democrat Chris Bell calling Texas' budget morally out of balance under the GOP incumbent because of children who are abused, neglected and go without health care?
Is it independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn saying, "This state is, and should be, judged on how we treat our most vulnerable Texans. And I believe this state has to be judged very harshly right now."
Is it independent Kinky Friedman, inspired by the parable in the New Testament which he heard at a friend's funeral, promising to be a "Good Shepherd" as governor?
Or is it Libertarian James Werner leaving people alone on the issue? As he puts it, "It is not the business of the state to be promoting, engaging in or in any way involved with religious or moral principles.The business of the state is to protect the life and property of its citizens and to leave moral and religious judgments to the conscience of individual Texans."
The diversity of approaches stirs hope in Suzii Paynter, who directs the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
"Faith is a living, dynamic thing. ... That's why you see this cafeteria of ideas. People can say, 'I'm coming from a faith perspective and therefore I'm fighting abortion.' Or, 'I'm coming from a faith perspective and I'm advocating for CHIP (the Children's Health Insurance Program),'" she said.
"What if faith in politics meant only one issue, one way, forever? That would be so static and so different from the nature of a living God who cares about our lives," she said.
Whatever the approach, the high profile of faith in Texas politics occurs as Democrats nationally are working to stake their claim on religion after years of GOP candidates' success in courting the faithful.
"Democrats read the exit polls in 2004 and saw that people who were religious were highly likely to vote Republican," said political scientist Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
"They (Democrats) get almost all the vote of those who are atheists. That's 10 percent of the population," he said. "They've got to worry about the 90 percent who are deists."
A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found just 26 percent of Americans called the Democratic Party friendly to religion. Forty-seven percent called the GOP religion-friendly.
Bell, an Episcopalian who calls his faith personal, not private, said he's been as guilty as any Democrat in keeping quiet about the role of faith in his political positions. But no more.
"It's the biggest mistake that the Democratic Party has probably made in the last 25 years," he said. "For us to leave people with the impression that we're not concerned about faith, that we're not concerned about morals and values, and that we're not going to be a part of that debate simply took the party in the wrong direction."
'Moral documents' Bell, who kicked off his campaign more than a year ago by referring to government budgets as "moral documents," gave a recent speech at Southwestern University in Georgetown filled with references to Jesus.
Among other points, he zeroed in on children without health care coverage in a state with the nation's highest rate of uninsured people. Perry presided over cuts in the Children's Health Insurance Program in 2003 to help bridge a multibillion-dollar shortfall without new taxes.
Key benefits were restored in 2005, but a stricter re-enrollment requirement remains an important change blamed for helping drive down enrollment. Supporters say parents must take responsibility if their children are eligible; opponents say it's the children who go without health care who are hurt.
"Jesus never said, 'Heal the sick unless politics gets in the way,'" Bell said.
When religion was brought up in the context of the 2003 budget debate, Perry said, "Day in and day out, my faith has a substantial role in my life. ... I think we've got a moral budget, if that's what you're asking."
Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black — who said Perry was unavailable for an interview on faith and politics — said, "Liberal Democrats tend to view compassion by how many people are on the welfare rolls or getting assistance from the state. There is certainly a role for that with compassionate people.".
"While Texas has safety-net programs," he said, "the governor believes it's more compassionate to help people provide for themselves and so has worked to strengthen the economy."
While focusing on such matters as health care and education, Bell is on the opposite side of other issues from Perry's conservative religious supporters. Bell supports abortion rights and said he voted against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage (although he said he doesn't support gay marriage).
No room for argument The Texas Eagle Forum's Cathie Adams will brook no argument on abortion: "It is not debatable that there is a right to life. ... It's a God-given right. ... There is no way that a person can say, 'I'm a religious person,' and then reject (God's) standard."
Others make a general plea for tolerance.
"There's not anything wrong with policy-makers making decisions based on their own religious convictions," said Republican former acting Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff. "The problem arises when they have absolute intolerance for anybody else's convictions and essentially attack anyone who doesn't agree with their interpretation of either God's plan or biblical instruction."
Ratliff said people may espouse Christian beliefs on issues like same-sex marriage or abortion, "but when it comes to things that might require that they vote for more taxes, too many of them are able to somehow reconcile not following the Christian tenets of, 'Inasmuch as you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me also.' "
'We've got to lift all Texans' Strayhorn, a Methodist, said she voted to ban same-sex marriage and believes "in the sanctity of life" when it comes to abortion.
She added that those who believe likewise "have the most responsibility, once the children are here, to take care of those children." She calls herself "heartbroken that we have not fully restored children's health insurance."
"To lift Texas, we've got to lift all Texans. That is part of my deep religious belief," she said.
Friedman is typically irreverent even when it comes to reverence, saying he's a Jew "but not a practicing Jew. There are those who say, 'If Kinky was a practicing Jew, he needs to practice a little more.'"
He describes himself as generally pro-choice on abortion. He didn't vote on the gay-marriage ban but repeats his belief that gay people "have every right to be as miserable as everybody else and marry."
He sees bigger issues at stake, including school quality and health coverage.
"When its comes to religion," he said, "if you're not doing good, I don't think any religious activity makes a lot of sense."
(Houston) Texas PING
Didn't see these Kinky comments on religion (which he has stated numerous times and can even be found on his own website AHEAD of that joke about gay marriage...
"When I'm governor we will bring the Ten Commandments back to school, I may have to change their name, the ten suggestions maybe, but we have to get them back in. And I would like to bring non-denominational prayer in the public schools. What's wrong with a kid believing in something?"
I'm thinking of another sticker, "Kinky - What The Hell Are You Thinking?"
I actually like those ideas. Goodness knows we can no longer depend on kids learning these values at home. :o(
As an article on Texas politics and religion, this is just a lot of DNC talking points.
The new mantra is that socialized medicine is a biblical teaching.
Shouldn't we have read about how religious the Romans were because they had a dole system?
Chris Bell also wants to see the minimum wage hiked up to $7/hour.
On one hand, I can see the benefit to Medicaid. With the illegal problem NO ONE will address, we've got to get a grip on diseases that are returning [TB and hepatitis.] But there has to be a limit. Everything I think about as problematic for us brings me back to sealing the borders, first and foremost.
Got a better choice?
..which leads me to the other sticker I was thinking of
"Kinky - Put Down the Crack Pipe and Think About It?"
I'm not on the DU board am I?
As a Conservative, voting for Rick Perry is second nature, and my duty as a citizen of Texas.
Please remove me from this ping list. Thanks.
Kinky sounds like an interesting fellow. If he loses send him to Florida and we'll get him elected over here.
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