This campaign is knee-deep in religion, and it's only going to get worse. I'd thought that the limits of professed public piety had already been achieved during the Republican CNN-YouTube debate when some squirrelly looking guy held up a Bible and asked, "Do you believe every word of this book?" -- and not one candidate dared reply: None of your damn business.The article reminded me of a speech I read several years ago in Mario Cuomo's collected speeches. (Yes, I know, Krauthammer and Cuomo are an unlikely combination.) In a speech that Coumo gave at Notre Dame while governor of New York, he argued that his Catholicism informs some of his political stances, but that he should only pursue those religiously-inspired policies that are suitable for his diverse constituency. In other words, his Catholicism can inspire his advocacy for a social safety net, but he would not support any policy that imposes the Catholic church's teaching on contraception on his diverse constituency of Sikhs, Protestants, Jews, and non-religious.
I found Cuomo's speech to be a persuasive explanation of how one's public service and private faith coexist--one that speaks to me as a politically literate Jew-- and Krauthammer's op-ed to be a refreshing defense of the separation between church and state.
1 comment:
Laura, this is a terrific connection--and that speech by Cuomo is one of the most beautiful pieces of political rhetoric I've ever encountered. It's actually part of the reason I decided to study the law; I thought the clarity of the distinction he makes between his private values and his public responsibilities was brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
Ann
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