Posted on 10/31/2006 8:50:34 AM PST by SmithL
The rocky marriage of religion and politics was tested again last weekend when Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. criticized the GOP's approach to faith.
During a stop Saturday in Paris, Tenn., Ford said one of the hallmarks of the Democratic Party is that members don't "use the Bible to judge people."
He then quoted from the Bible about "the spirit of fear," and living in the spirit of love, and he paraphrased U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn.
"My friend Lincoln Davis, who chairs this campaign, says there is one big difference between us and ... Republicans when it comes to our faith," Ford said. "He said 'Republicans fear the Lord. Democrats fear and love the Lord.'"
After Saturday night's debate in Nashville, Ford told reporters that the comment wasn't directed at Corker.
"I just made the point ... people who go around and try to judge other people are to be real careful," Ford said.
However, Republican opponent Bob Corker's campaign and supporters said the comments crossed the line.
"If Harold Ford believes what he said about our relationship with God is true, then it's incredibly disturbing," Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a prepared statement. "It's outrageous for Harold Ford to say that someone's love for the Lord depends on their political views -- and it is offensive to all Tennesseans who want their next senator to bring people together, not divide them."
Religious rehetoric has "been used fairly effectively by Ford to insulate himself against personal attacks," said Bruce Oppenheimer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. "Clearly the turning point of this was the ad in the church."
Ford's ad, filmed inside Mt. Moriah East Baptist Church in Orange Mound, was widely hailed by pundits as successful and criticized by some civil liberty and interfaith groups as questionable.
"The recent rush of candidates-political parties -- and their often aggressive tactics -- to reach out to 'people of faith' lures religious organizations and religious leaders into dangerous legal territory," C. Welton Gaddy, president of the 185,000-member Interfaith Alliance, wrote in a letter last month to the national chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties.
"We didn't mix religion and politics," Ford told an interfaith gathering at a prayer breakfast in Chattanooga earlier this month after quoting from Ephesians. "I am who I am. I can't step out of who I am when I go to work."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a commercial that borrowed heavily from Ford's church ad and questioned his God-focused image in light of his attendance at a Playboy-sponsored party last year.
Behind the back-and-forth is a battle over religious voters, a demographic that in previous election years has helped turn out the Republican vote. This month, a Gallup poll found white religious voters "equally as likely to say they will vote Democratic as Republican," a dramatic shift from their strong Republican leanings expressed in surveys conducted earlier in the year.
"One of the things the Republicans have done very well over the last 20 years or so is make religion one of their cornerstones," said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. "The Democrats don't want to give that ground up. Religion isn't Democratic or Republican."
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Tight race draws national names
Prominent political figures will stump for the candidates in Tennessee this week.
Details
First lady Laura Bush will campaign for Republican Bob Corker today in Kingsport and Franklin.
Former president Bill Clinton will headline a rally for Democrat Harold Ford Jr. at 11 am. Wednesday at the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ in Memphis.
Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander, will join Ford for a 2:30 p.m rally Wednesday in Clarksville.
"ford is an evil sycophant of satan. He will burn in hell for eternity."
Oh, dear friend, no one should say such things. As followers of Christ, we hate no one. We must also remember that the image of God is upon each of us. You've got some issues with Ford, so pray for him. And pray for yourself, that you don't spew this kind of vitriol.
Peace.
They claim every member of their base is a "victim." That means they get to play judge and choose the "villain."
I saw the film clip and he said it without any disclaimer what-so-ever!
LLS
Good catch, shows the media at work again.
I remember after the 2004 elections, the democrats had a caucus and decided they needed to be more "religious" in their speeches. Talk about hypocritical...they accuse the religious of two faced bigotry but cannot see that they are guilty of that themselves or that the rules don't apply to them! Either way, Americans DON'T LIKE PHONIES!
It's pathetic when people who don't know the Bible try to talk about it.
I don't see that conservatives/republicans are judging. God has already done that in Hiw Word. We're just pointing out what God already said. Don't blame us for the mess you've made of your life.
We may have found a politician who is more phony than the Clintons, or Gore, or Kerry.
I wonder how the far left anti-Christ minions feel about all this "righteousness" coming from the democrats. The Bible speaks out against everything the far left believes in.
That's just not funny.
:(
Ford is attempting to go "far right wing" (in the eyes of the democrats). The polls may be saying one thing, but it seems as though Ford is desperately (and I mean desperately) trying way too hard to be something he's not. It's too obvious that he's no saint. He's an abortion, homo loving, tax collecting democrat. Otherwise, he wouldn't be running as a democrat.
POPEYE! Oh no wait, that's I yam what I yam! Sorry
Exodus 3:14 I yam what I yam, and that's all that I yam.
I'm Yaweh the Israelite God.
This is a "judgement." To qualify to render judgement (according to Matthew 7) is to not be hypocritical. So, when we do judge we can be helpful. Was Ford trying to "help" the Repubs? I don't think so.
Friend, it is true that his party supports things that I as a Christian cannot. That said, I don't want Ford to go to hell and I hope you don't either. Politics is ugly to be sure and I don't think Ford should continue to invoke the Lord's Name in vain, but we still must love our enemies.
The ultimate wolves in sheeps' clothing.
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I don't hate him, and I don't damn him to hell. What I did was state what I know the Bible says will happen to people that embrace darkness. His eyes are devoid of GOD, as is his soul.
May GOD have mercy on my soul, and may HE bless all GOD loving Americans. May he ONCE AGAIN gift us with Victory over our enemies. Amen!
LLS
The Vedas have a statement that a cobra with a jewel on its head is just as dangerous as a plain cobra.
Can an unemployed congressman get job as a preacher?
New poll here on FR has Corker pulling away!
LLS
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