Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
May 12, 2008 Monday
When Michigan Gov. George Romney ran in the 1968 Republican presidential primary, no mention was made of his Mormon faith.
But by 2007, his son, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ran smack into a wall of doubts from a nation uneasy about his religious allegiances.
With each election since Jimmy Carter publicly proclaimed he was a born-again Christian, the pulpit has held a prominent place in the public sphere. A poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press last summer found that almost seven in 10 Americans said it was important to them "that a president have strong religious beliefs."
In the East Bay, voters differ widely about how their faiths will play out in the November vote.
A devout Mormon said religion had no place in the voting booth. An Episcopal gay rights leader said there was no way to check faith values at the door when casting a ballot. A Christian said her faith background not only influences her values but has caused her to feel deeply conflicted about the November election.
"If they believe in a supreme being, they're 90 percent of the way with me," said Ed Stevenson, a Bay Point Presbyterian.
"I don't think anyone's faith should have any bearing on what I'm thinking," said Susan Randall, a Mormon who lives in Martinez. "I don't like the way George Bush uses God."
"It's such a hot topic," said Jay Johnson, senior director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Pacific School of Religion.
"So many people seem to be wondering what faith and politics have to do with each other at all."
In fact, abolition, women's suffrage, labor and the civil rights movements all grew out of faith roots, he said.
Protestant clergy launched the social gospel movement "at a time when we had a seven-day work week, child labor, working conditions that were absolutely awful," he said.
"You can say 'separation of church and state' until you're blue in the face, but people will take their religious values with them into the voting booth. If you are going to take your values with you, take that clarion call for social justice with you."
Discussion of faith "is more intense this time around," said John Green, senior fellow with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
"We have strong religious appeals by all the candidates."
In talks to religious groups, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has sounded a social justice call. Her former minister recalled how Clinton's "heart responded" to human rights themes in his Methodist ministry.
Sen. John McCain says little about his faith. Raised an Episcopalian, he became a Baptist.
He supports the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Sen. Barack Obama has said voters are not seeking "a litmus test on faith" so much as "an assurance that a candidate has a value system and that is appreciative of the role that religious faith can play in helping shape people's lives."
Obama, a longtime member of the United Church of Christ, told an audience at an April "Compassion Forum" in Grantham, Pa., that "what those of us of religious faith have to do when we're in the public square is to translate our language into a universal language that can appeal to everybody."
Religion has been the province of Republicans since the Moral Majority helped sweep Ronald Reagan into office. That is no longer the case, experts say.
"Clinton and Obama have spent a lot of time talking about religion and talking about their faith," Green said. They have also moderated stands on some social issues, playing up the importance of preventing abortion, for instance.
The growing progressive evangelical movement has helped wash away the bank that divided the parties. Its voters place high priority on healing the environment, assuaging hunger and ending the war, but may also hold conservative views on such issues as abortion. Many East Bay faith voters say the divide between religious conservatives and progressives has never been as pronounced as pundits claimed.
"Thinking Christians don't fall neatly into categories," said the Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli, a Walnut Creek Presbyterian.
"I'm this hybrid political person," she said. "I really care about issues related to life: abortion, end of life, even the topic of the death penalty. My struggle is what does the Scripture say about life?
"On the other side, I want to make sure I am part of a society that takes care of the poor. I've got concerns about health care and all that. I am asking, who will do the least damage?"
The economy has spurred many of the faithful to become more active in politics, pushing aside some of the social issues that divided faith voters.
People of faith must "become more aware," said C.M. Smith, who works in a soup kitchen after church.
"What goes on in the economy impacts the church," said the Rev. Andre Shumake, president of the Richmond Improvement Association.
"You have parishioners making tough choices. With gas prices being so high, whether to go to church Sunday morning or, for those who have a job, to work Monday morning. We haven't even talked of food prices. All those issues directly affect parishioners."
The Catholic faith commands compassion for those who struggle, Sandra Gutierrez said. Issues critical to many Catholics, including abortion, do not resonate with her and others of her generation.
"I'm Catholic, but I feel (abortion) is a personal choice," the El Cerrito woman said. "I might not do it, but it's a personal choice and I respect that. A lot of the people who go to the church I go to feel the same way. If you talk to the older people, they would be against gay marriage, but again, I feel it's a personal choice. They are two people who care for each other. Who are they hurting?"
Camille Giglio of Walnut Creek also worries about harm but does so through the lens of more conservative Catholic values.
"You have to choose the person who will do the least harm to the human person," she said. "I've got some reservations about McCain but ... he has a good record as far as protection of human life goes."
Candidates ignore the Catholic vote at their peril, Green said: It is as sizable as the evangelical vote, but more evenly divided between parties.
McCain "needs evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, and all kinds of supporters," and "a lot of them haven't liked McCain," he said. "One thing McCain has going for him is that voters who are skeptical of McCain like Clinton and Obama even less."
That was the view of one Moraga woman. "The two Democrats are very disturbing to me, but parts of John McCain are disturbing as well," Lisa Disbrow said.
"I don't like his wiffle-waffling on immigration, but I like his position on the war on terrorism," she said. "All this nonsense about going green is not science-based."
But she favors his consistently anti-abortion voting record, she said.
"Anybody of any religious persuasion is frustrated by the process," Naegeli said. "Every candidate is a mixed bag. It's tougher this time."
Rebecca Rosen Lum covers religion. Reach her at rrosenlum@bayarea newsgroup.com.
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