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THE
SURPRISE
ISSUE
OFTHE'76
CAMPAIGN
by
Jeff
Calkins
4
/(
of a udden. religion in politics
ha\ become respectable. Ten
;. cars ago. thc pectade of a
pre~idential
cand idate openly and
publicl;
expre~sing
his heanfelt re–
li gious com iction:-, would ha ve been
unthinkabk.
But
time~
have changed. Today.
'·God [is]not on ly ali,e. but stump–
ing \\"ith the
canuidate~:·
rcmarks
one liberal Ca tholic magazine. Billy
Graham take a
le:.>.
cyni cal toné:
" lt \ a
re frc~h ing
thing. to ha ve can–
dida te:-. come along and talk about
thcir lkvot ion to God. especially if
the) back it up "i th their li'
es:·
A Far Cry From 1960
The la:-.t time rcligion camc up
a~
an
i::.~ue
in a prcsiden ti al clcct ion. the
em phasi-, \\'a:, uitrercnt. :vlany \Okr\
fca rcd that John Kennclh ·s Ca tholi–
cism wouId in tluence hÍs
decision~
a\ Prcsident. and Mr. Kenned) took
great pa ins to dispel the idea .
Hi ~
narrO\\ victory O\'er Richa rd Nixon
in 1960 can
C\
en be attribu ted to
hi~
succc::.si"u l dc fusing or th c religious
is~ul!.
Toda\. in cont ra:-.t: man\ 'oters
are -,ee rÍlingl: prcparcd to
~banJon
such tradrtional political con;,id–
eration as ideolo!l.Y or specific
stands on i!>sucs in
t~:dcr
tO
support
somconl! primaril)
because
of his re–
ligion. Therc is c,·idence that in
some kc; prima ri es or the 1976
pre,idential campaign. a sign ifican!
pcrccntagc or vo tcrs made thei r
choice soleh on the basis ora ca ndi-
Jatc·s rcligious prcference. The i -
sue
wa~
first raised in thc carl) days
of J immy Carter" prima ry cam–
paign. Mr. Carter took no pains
to
hiele hi rcligious
con vict i on~.
nor
did he makc any att empt to moder–
atc thc tradit ional Southcrn Baplist
rra mcwork in which he expressed
them.
To be surc. Mr. Ca rt er's public
proressions of hi s rai th (arnong
them: "Thc
mo~t
important thing in
my life i::. Jesm Christ.'") have not
gone do\\n \\ell with many urban
libc rab "ho rcscn t "hat sorne call
the ··smug mora l tone·· or th c Carter
campaig;. Evidcntl). his frankncss
hasn·t put that man) people off.
howc\ er. as
¡\1
r. Cartcr"s primar;
pcrrormance-, attest.
Religious Vi ews of the Candidates
v\'hilc it has becn th c former CJeor–
gia governor \\'ho
ha~
madc the
111 0:-l
conspicuous professio n or his
re li giou~
f"ai th in thc campaign. the
two ot hcr major cundidatcs st ill in
the running. Prcsidcnt GeraiJ Ford
and l{onald R<.!agan . abo have fi rm
rcligiou~
con' 1cti'Óns. Bricll). he re is
a relrgious prolile of the candidate:
Presulent Ford:
Mr. Ford is an
Episcopalian who frcquently at–
tcnds St. John\ Episcopal Chu rch
acro~s
the park rrom the \\>hite
H ou~c.
H<.! regularly takes part in
cvangdical praycr ga therings in
Washine.ton. Mr. Ford encourae.ed
hi s -.on Michael to go toa \emin';ir)
(Continued on page 44)
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976