The Vicar's Monthly Letter
Dear Reader,
This month sees the long awaited climax of the US Presidential elections; a contest that seems to have been going on for ages, with the hotly contested primary elections of the main parties’ candidates stretching back for months and months before the election race proper actually started in the summer.
It may seem strange to those of us in this country that the very first time that the two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, shared the same platform once they’d been elected by their respective parties, was in a debate set up in one of the nation’s largest churches, chaired by one of its foremost Christian leaders. ‘Strange’ that is, because over here, we’re not used to our politicians ‘doing God’. In the States, however, it is a given that in order to stand a chance of victory, they have to court the religious (and that means, predominantly, Christian) vote. But it wasn’t always so. Paradoxically, the most devout Christian President that the US had had for nearly a century, Jimmy Carter (a Southern Baptist), tried to keep his private faith and public policy separate, as had all his immediate predecessors. However, it became apparent that in doing so, he alienated a large section of the increasingly politically active evangelical Christians who’d had high hopes of his term of office. As a result, when Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination to oppose Carter in the 1980 presidential election, one of the first things he did was to court the religious vote.
When Reagan came to the end of his acceptance speech after becoming his party’s candidate, he seemed to hesitate. “I have thought of something that is not part of my speech and worried over whether I should do it”, he said (departing from his script, or at least from the script that had been given out beforehand to the journalists).
The atmosphere in the hall changed. “I’ll confess that ...” his voice faltered, “I’ve been a little afraid to suggest what I’m going to suggest... but I’m more afraid not to. Can we begin our crusade together with a moment of prayer?” There was silence for nearly 15 seconds before it was broken by Reagan’s bold declaration, “God bless America!”
US politics has never been the same since. No matter how calculated or insincere his tactic (or vice versa), it worked, and he swept to power, helped at least in part by a big swing from Carter’s erstwhile evangelical Christian supporters.
According to the analysis of Presidential addresses recorded by David Domke and Kevin Coe in their book, ‘The God Strategy’, since 1980 US Presidents “invoke God more frequently, use religious language more liberally, link the nation to God or Providence more often, speak from religious platforms more commonly, and proclaim religious celebration days more regularly” than their predecessors prior to that year.
Given the way that so many American trends seem to be exported a little while later to this side of the Atlantic, can we expect the same thing to happen here?
It was Tony Blair’s notorious aide, Alistair Campbell, who famously declared on behalf of the Prime Minister’s office that “we don’t do God”, partly because it was widely known that Blair, like Carter, was an especially devout Christian, and so was keen to establish that the distinction between his private faith and public policy would be maintained. If David Cameron sweeps to power at the next election, (as he seems likely to at the moment), will he be the one to adopt Reagan’s strategy and introduce more religious language and themes into his pronouncements, either to court that section of the electorate or to try and adopt the moral high ground?
I must admit, it does seem unlikely, especially as there doesn’t appear to be a strong religious faction in the UK, not only because the numbers of practising Christians (and other religious adherents) are fewer in this country than in the US, but also because Christians and churches here aren’t as monochrome or organised when it comes to their political views. For most Christians, their faith doesn’t lead them automatically to a particular political viewpoint, but rather informs the principles on which their political ideas are based. For example, their reflection on Christ’s teaching may challenge them to consider the needs of other people (and especially the poorest or weakest in society) alongside their own, but not necessarily to an agreed solution as to how to put that into practise in terms of social and political policy.
For some people, that makes the Christian community (and perhaps especially the Church of England) confused, weak, and indecisive. Whereas others, I would hope, would realise that it is actually evidence of a moral and intellectual integrity, and a reason why Christians should not be excluded from the political or public arena for fear that they would be blinded by fundamentalist dictats and unable to see the wider picture or respect the opinions and arguments of others.
In the United States itself, there are recent signs that the Christian community there is not the monolithic ‘religious right’ it is often portrayed, but reflects a wider range of views and an increasing concern for the sort of social and welfare reforms and foreign and international policies that represent a more left wing or centralist viewpoint.
Whoever wins the election on the 4th November, it will break new ground, with either the United States’ first black president, or its first female vice president taking office. Either way, I’m sure the winner will continue to “do God”, but the way in which they do so may turn out to be very different from their immediate predecessors.
Best wishes,
John Weetman
A PRAYER
Sovereign Lord of people and nations, we pray for those
who will be elected to office in the US Presidential Election
and for all politicians and rulers around the world.
Give them vision to see far into the issues of their time,
courage to uphold what they believe to be right,
and integrity in their words and motives;
and may their service to their people
promote the welfare and peace of all nations;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.