October 7, 2004
A UMC.org Feature
By Ray Waddle

An 11th commandment has taken root among American Christians this election year: Thou Shalt Take Thy Faith Into the Voting Booth and Make a Difference.

A close presidential race in a worried world has turned faith into a decisive political factor in 2004.

President Bush and challenger John Kerry talk willingly about their religious convictions. Culture war issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage are motivating believers to register voters and work for candidates. According to recent polling data, religious commitment has emerged as a key predictor of how a person votes.

"I'm glad religion is impacting people's decision-making," says Lois Dauway, a staff executive for Christian social responsibility at the United Methodist Women's Division. "We're called to be involved and not stand outside."

But religion and politics make an explosive mix. The temptation for opposing political groups, Dauway cautions, is for each to claim God is on its side, condemn the other as evil and zealously enlist churches for partisan political ends.

"I don't believe God chooses candidates for elected office in any country," she says. "We're called to look at issues in light of the Gospel, and use our minds and our hearts as we decide how to vote."

Christians remain sharply divided over economic policy, the war in Iraq and the moral direction of America, despite sharing a belief in Jesus and reading the same sacred text. A nonstop media world of cable news, Internet and talk radio keeps the debate revved up, dramatizing divisions.

Many Christians support President Bush. They warm to his personal faith, the way he talks about his conversion with simple conviction, and they welcome the Republican Party's sensitivity to moral issues important to them. Other Christians support Sen. Kerry. They see him as a man committed to biblical values of compassion, and they oppose Bush's management of the Iraq war and tax policies that appear to favor the wealthy.

This religious gap has hardened into a fixture of presidential politics. A Republican alliance that includes white Christians who attend church regularly is facing off with a Democratic alliance of minority faiths and white Christians who attend church less frequently, according to an analysis in the publication Religion in the News.

How should faith guide one's vote? Church leaders offer this simple advice: Search the Bible. Examine the denomination's historic teachings-the Social Principles, for example. Get past the sound bites, and consider the candidates' personal integrity and actual pattern of morality in public policy.

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the denomination's social justice agency, offers links on its Web site to the two presidential candidates as well as information on how to register to vote and guidelines on church participation in politics and its limits. James Winkler, the board's top staff executive, says he takes the denomination's Social Principles seriously as a guide to politics and candidates.

"The question is, who is really talking about the last, the least and the lost, the widow, the orphan and the children?" he asks. "Who is going to carry out policies that adhere to Scripture?"

He warns that it's dangerous to identify Jesus or God with any political party.

"If we're going to put trust in God and then assume a political party embodies God, we will be sorely disappointed," he says.

Politics, he argues, involves too much deal-cutting and compromise, and only demeans religious faith when the alignment is too close.

"Once you get into that mindset you can justify anything," he says.

But the Rev. James V. Heidinger II, president of Good News, an evangelical United Methodist ministry, says a culture shifting rapidly away from traditional faith is worrisome to a lot of Christians, and they are eager to vote their convictions.

"There's a growing concern across grassroots America about the fundamental values of our nation," he says. "A lot of people feel strongly that we're ridding the public square of all things religious ... and a significant part of our heritage is being ignored."

He says traditional Christians worry that American culture-the entertainment industry, public schools and universities, and media-grows steadily more vocal in support of gay rights and abortion rights, values that depart from 2,000 years of Christian history.

In response, a Christian conservative shift to the Republican Party-which opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights-has been a defining trend of American politics for a generation or more.

Will that trend continue on Election Day? Or will moderate Protestants, a mix of Republicans and Democrats, become swing voters who determine the election in key states? Will the outcome-whether for Bush or Kerry-intensify the interaction of faith and politics in future elections?

At least in this close race, religion looks to be pivotal. Winkler sees a healthy side to it.

"Faith is on the table now," he says. "We're coming out of a secular period in history. Candidates are being forced to talk about the moral dimension of their policy decisions. When we get away from that moral dimension, politics gets corrupted."

United Methodist News Service
Ray Waddle, a writer in Nashville, Tenn., is author of A Turbulent Peace: The Psalms for Our Time, published by Upper Room Books. UMC.org, administered by United Methodist Communications, is the official Web site of the United Methodist Church.