Religious Rhetoric Sparks Debate In Campaign 2000.

Debate over the use of religious rhetoric in politics has erupted again in campaign 2000.

In late August, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman sparked controversy when he called for a greater role for religion in American public life. Speaking before a United Church of Christ congregation in Detroit Aug. 26, Lieberman remarked, "As a people, we need to reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and to God's purposes." He also asserted that the Constitution "guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

A few days later at a prayer breakfast, Lieberman returned to religious themes, telling an audience in Chicago, "This is the most religious country in the world and sometimes we try to ... hide it.... [W]e are also children of the same awesome God."

Lieberman even found a way to tie his religious beliefs to the Democrats' public policy initiatives, asking attendees at the prayer breakfast, "Isn't Medicare coverage of prescription drugs really about the values of the Fifth Commandment -- honor your father and mother?"

On Aug. 28, the Anti-Defamation League, one of the largest Jewish organizations in the country, called on Lieberman, the first Jew to seek the vice presidency on a major ticket, to back off. In a letter to the Connecticut senator, ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman asserted that while candidates should feel comfortable talking about their faith in public, at some point "an emphasis on religion in a political campaign becomes inappropriate and even unsettling in a religiously diverse society such as ours."

Two days later Americans United expressed concern as well. In a letter to Lieberman, AU Executive Director Barry W. Lynn wrote, "This style of campaigning is unhealthy to our democratic process. Americans do not need political leaders insisting that we `reaffirm our faith,' and your insistence that they do so was terribly inappropriate."

Continued Lynn, "The very purpose of a political campaign is to offer voters the opportunity to consider candidates' stands on the important issues of the day. Ours is a democracy, not a theocracy. We are electing secular political leaders to run a government, not religious leaders to manage a house of worship."

Lynn concluded by asking Lieberman to "take the lead on refocusing this campaign onto the issues and controversies that shape our political landscape. Ask voters to consider your candidacy and that of your running mate because of your record, not your faith." (For the full text of the Lynn letter, visit the Americans United website at www.au.org.)

Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, however, told reporters he would not advise Lieberman to stop talking about religion. In an interview with a television station in St. Louis, Gore insisted that both he and Lieberman support the separation of church and state, but added, "I believe in what he's saying. He's a man of great faith, and I knew that when I selected him."

Religion has been an ongoing point of interest in the presidential campaign. During the GOP primary, Republican hopeful George W. Bush declared Christ to be the political philosopher he most identified with. The Texas governor also stirred controversy this year by declaring June 10 "Jesus Day."

Bush's Democratic rival Gore has delved into religious rhetoric, observing that he often asks himself "What would Jesus do?" when considering issues. A top Gore aide told the press that "the Democratic Party is going to take God back this time."

The issue has provoked varied reactions from pundits and political commentators.

For example, Gannett News Service columnist DeWayne Wickham observed, "[R]egard for the separation of church and state is becoming less the rule than the exception.

"The great danger in this trend," he continued, "is not that politicians will become more godly, but rather that religion will become the driving force behind this nation's secular affairs. Such a turn of events would transform our democracy into a Christian state and threaten the rights and freedoms of citizens who hew to other forms of religions....

"Politicians who wear their religion on their sleeves tilt this nation away from democracy and increase the chance that our nation will one day become a theocratic state," Wickham concluded. "That would be a God-awful mistake."