Thought-provoking Heather MacDonald offers an opinion to ponder: piety doesn't belong in politics.
This surge of mediagenic piety is discouraging to one of the least heralded segments of the political spectrum: secular conservatives. The conservative movement has supposedly benefited from politicians who publicize their relationship to God. Non-believing conservatives, however, see this electoral gain as a Pyrrhic victory. Conservative principles, they say, are best grounded in reason and evidence, not revelation. The infusion of God talk into both parties' campaign discourse adds nothing to the public's ability to vote wisely....Most educated people instinctively understand that a law-abiding society can easily slide into anarchy without widespread obedience to the law. The greatest conservative triumph of late 20th century America — New York City's return to civility — was achieved by appeal to secular values alone.Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke relentlessly about the need for personal responsibility and respect for social order; he based his policies on principles that non-believers and believers alike could test against their own experience.
Invoking God in the political realm is a conversation stopper, not an invitation to robust debate. America's rules of religious etiquette demand that we acquiesce silently in a believer's claim of revelation. But conservatism doesn't need such revelation; common sense and an openness to fact will do just fine as support. Conservative principles are available to people of all faiths or no faith at all.
Avoiding the topic of faith may not be the answer, but there's no denying that the professed faiths of candidates for public office can be used or abused for political advantage, like anything else.
Posted by Alan at October 23, 2006 07:34 PM