In my opinion, President Bush has struck a very good balance of showing how his faith informs his decisions, whether I agree with them (lower taxes) or not (immigration policy). I also appreciate Sarah Palin, because I not only share a common faith, but also the bond of parenting a child with special needs.

As a Christian, I get annoyed, but not very upset, with how we are portrayed in the media. What does upset me is the lack of coverage about the persecution of Christians in places like China, Vietnam, and even Iraq. People can talk all they want about Guantanamo, but those detainees are treated like princes compared to what is happening in other places in the world, to people whose only crime is practicing their faith.

I may run for some political office down the road, but it won’t be to save anyone. My goal would be to be less of a moron than the person I replace!

I would say I’m comfortable with a candidate talking about his faith, as long as they have a message of substance and it isn’t pandering.

I’m amazed at how Huckabee gets a bad rap over this though. Living in Iowa I was able to see him several times and had a chance to meet him. He is authentic. That folksiness is just a part of who he is. Most of the time he spoke on the economy, fair tax, life issues, etc. The only time he spoke of his faith in depth was at a pastor’s conference he was invited to. He preached. He did not campaign.

Often times when he would talk about his faith it was when he was asked. People were just so fixated on the fact he was a pastor, but seemed to forget he was a Lt. Governor and Governor longer than he was a pastor.

So from what I know of him he didn’t just talk his faith, he lived it as well.

That being said, I recognize he needs to find a way to reach out to moderates as well. I think his policy ideas would be attractive if people would get past the fact that he was a pastor.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn’t read what I wrote last week about the desire of the Left to shut up Christians. Here’s the post: http://www.melissaclouthier.com/2008/11/07/god-is-the-new-gay/

Those who wonder why a “lefty” like me (their words, not mine) come to your site need look no further than this post. You have summed up and articulated what I don’t have the capacity to do myself. I have always been leery of those who wear their faith so outwardly, and have wondered who they were trying to convince. That being said, I realize that the majority of Americans count themselves as Christian, and I have no desire to diminish thier beliefs. There was a time that I took great joy in baiting the faithful, but I now realize just how immature those tactics were. I also agree that Palin’s faith is probably genuine, however I think that the “outing” of it may have backfired and energized even more voters from the the left and perhaps the center as well into voting against her. I believe BO’s win was a reaction to Bush policy and the percieved threat of an overt evangelical in the #2 spot rather than true faith in BO’s “change and hope”. To be fair, some of the “overt” was media hyped. Nonetheless, she is an evangelical and I think it scared the crap out of a lot of people.

I want to make this clear: I have no problem with evangelicals. For years I have struggled with the question of faith, and I know some genuinely fantastic people who count themselves as evangelicals and have occasionally sought their insight on these matters. I have also read a great deal about Benjamin Franklin’s views on faith, and I myself subscribe to the “watchmaker” theory.

Sad to say, but Palin’s outward (effusive – good word) evangelical viewpoint was enough for me to cast a vote against the GOP ticket. Had McCain picked a more theologically moderate VP, I would have voted for him (while holding my nose).

I don’t want to ramble. I just think that this is an excellent post and I think that GOP leadership should copy it and distribute it to everyone of their members involved in campaigning.

In regards to what you said about about people using God language, I could not agree with you more. Although I write about spiritual matters, it is immensely personal to me and I also can’t participate on an open forum in that type of language. John O’Donohue says that we often “domesticate” God when we make reference to God on that level and enter into an every day ordinary language like that. I tend to agree.

Great post, great observation.