Keep Politics out of Churches, Diverse Panel Warns Candidates

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

ATLANTA (The Interfaith Alliance) — Recently, five major voices from across a broad political spectrum agreed that religion should not be used as a tool of political campaigns and that America should maintain its historical separation of the institutions of religion and government. On other questions — “What does it mean to be a ‘religious’ person?” for example — panelists had a diversity of views.

At the third of four Forums on Religion in the 2004 Elections, hosted by The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, The Interfaith Alliance of Georgia and The Greater Atlanta Interfaith Alliance, the panelists were:

• Keith Jennings, Ph.D., president of the African- American Human Rights Foundation and former national coordinator of the World Council of Churches’ human rights campaign on racism;
• Richard Land, Ph.D., president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the SBC’s spokesman on Capitol Hill;
• John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress and former chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton;
• Bill Smith, an independent media consultant, formerly an account executive with Karl Rove + Company; and
• Steve Waldman, CEO, co-founder and editor-in-chief of BeliefNet, formerly an editor and journalist at Newsweek, U. S. News & World Report, and The Washington Monthly.

The forum was moderated by the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders, and pastor of Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, La.

“At a time when this nation has major political and religious divisions, it’s a hopeful sign that such a diverse group of thinkers can come together and find common ground on significant issues vital to the health of religion and democracy,” Gaddy said. “With [the election approaching], the manner in which the campaigns are conducted will be as significant to the nation’s health as who is elected. No matter who is elected on Nov. 2nd, in January we must find a level of national unity and a spirit of cooperation required to allow the president and the Congress to govern this nation.”

Jennings said he thinks America’s Founders got the balance right on the separation of church and state and that he hopes that after the elections religious and governmental institutions can come back to the place where they should be.

Referring to national polls that have been interpreted as indicating that the more one attends church, the more likely they are to vote Republican, Podesta said those polls are “self-identifying” and that if everyone who claimed to go to church once a week or more actually showed up that regularly, houses of worship would be more than overflowing. He also reminded the audience that many evangelicals are political progressives.

Waldman said that because Sen. John Kerry has tried to follow President John F. Kennedy’s path in separating his faith from his political views, polls show that voters don’t think of Kerry as a man of strong faith. He said that conveniently fits into Republican efforts to paint Kerry as a “waffler.”

Smith said that Bush is extremely careful in his religious language, but questioned whether the president was careful when he was “leaning on the Pope to get Catholics fired up” to vote for him and when he told an Amish group that God speaks through him.

Interest Growing in Faith-Based Initiative

WASHINGTON — Interest in President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative is steadily growing behind the scenes as organizations gear up for the 2005 funding year. Hundreds of organizations have been participating in training programs, including the Community and Faith-Based Institute developed by Washington, DC-based nonprofit We Care America. The Institute offers training for qualified groups seeking funding open to them by the Faith-Based Initiative, Charitable Choice and President Bush’s Executive Order.

Some additional interest has also been sparked by Sen. John Kerry’s recent acknowledgement that, should he be elected President, he would seek to expand opportunities for nonprofits through the Faith-Based Initiative.

While nonprofits are showing a renewed interest, the leaders of the Faith-Based Institute admit some surprise regarding the occupations of many in attendance. One out of four people in attendance are government employees, apparently seeking to understand for themselves what is being taught the nonprofits, including the best way to structure themselves to comply with funding guidelines and accountability standards.

To ensure that more organizations can benefit from the Institute, basic and advanced seminars are now also available in one multi-DVD video kit, which includes an extensive workbook. The kit is available at www.faithbasedinstitute.com.