Does religion matter in the US political arena?

Private faith should only become a campaigning topic when it is part of an authentic story, writes James Zogby

A supporter claps as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in New York. Trump has occasionally spoken about his Christian faith (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Shortly after Tim Kaine was elected governor of Virginia in 2006, a discussion ensued among Democratic party leaders about the lessons that could be learnt from Mr Kaine’s victory. Some observations were interesting, others were not. One was particularly off the mark.

Because Mr Kaine had often spoken about his Catholic faith, and because Democrats ordinarily do not, some concluded that the lesson to learn from Mr Kaine’s win was that Democrats needed to make a point of speaking more about religion. The observation was correct, but the conclusion was wrong.

Mr Kaine is not your ordinary politician. He is soft-spoken and thoughtful. His style is easy going and conversational. He is also a Catholic who speaks comfortably about how his sense of morality and his commitment to serving those in need comes from the social gospel message of the Bible and his experience as a volunteer worker in Latin America sponsored by the Jesuits.

Over the next few months, I noted that one of the Democrats who had been influenced by this discussion began to speak about his religious beliefs. At one point, having winced far too often at his clumsy efforts to talk about his faith, I told him: “You have it all wrong. Tim Kaine didn’t win because he spoke about religion. He won because he is authentic. And because he really is influenced by his faith. When he speaks about it, it’s real and people can feel that. When you speak about religion, it’s not real and it just doesn’t work. Be authentic, don’t fake it.”

This same dynamic was at work during this year’s Democratic primaries. To his credit, Bernie Sanders never faked it. He was compelling when he spoke about his immigrant father and the values he learnt growing up in a working class immigrant home. When he was asked during a televised debate about his religious beliefs, he didn’t attempt to fake it.

Instead he spoke about his “spirituality”, his belief that we are all connected to one another and, therefore, responsible to care for each other. It was moving and authentic. And because it was real, it played out well with the audience.

I thought about this matter of religion in politics this week, when I read news accounts of Donald Trump’s meeting with a group of leading Christian conservatives.

Originally planned as a small “get acquainted” session, the event grew to more than 1,000 people. Since the Christian right represents almost 40 per cent of the Republican electorate, the meeting was important. Mr Trump needed their support, but he knew his limitations. He didn’t even try to convince the assembled religious leaders about his faith. At one point he spoke clumsily about the importance of sending children to Sunday school and at another he mentioned “when I used to go to church” implying that he no longer does.

But none of this mattered to the assembled leaders. They are a self-righteous group who believe that they alone are in possession of God’s truth.

Instead of their political beliefs flowing from their faith, they attempted to give their conservative politics a religious colour. They weren’t interested in Mr Trump’s religion, what they wanted to know was that he would endorse their political agenda. And he did, promising to appoint anti-abortion judges and to change the law that currently limits the ability of tax-exempt religious institutions from becoming directly involved in politics (which Mr Trump endorsed saying “I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution to Christianity”).

Though awkwardly phrased, Mr Trump was direct in his appeal: “You can pray for your leaders, and I agree with that – pray for everyone – but what you really have to do is you have to pray to get everyone out to vote for one specific person”, obviously meaning himself, Donald Trump.

Not satisfied with this crass appeal for votes, Mr Trump went further, questioning Hillary Clinton’s faith. “We don’t know anything about Hillary Clinton in terms of religion ... she’s been in the public eye for years and years and yet there’s nothing out there.”

That, of course, is sheer nonsense since it is well known that Mrs Clinton is deeply committed to her Christian faith. She often quotes scripture and her most genuine moments have been when she speaks about it.

Coincidentally, I had just received a letter from a friend, an evangelical Christian leader, who told me that he had gone to high school with Mrs Clinton and how she had been a youth leader in the Methodist Church. He recalled her decades-long friendship with her pastor on whom she had relied for spiritual guidance.

In the end, it wasn’t faith or the lack of it that mattered for the assembled Christian Conservatives. In reality, they were not embracing Mr Trump for his religion or his authenticity. More likely, they suspended their disbelief, simply because they had come to accept that he would advance their goals.

Dr James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute and is part of the US Democratic party’s platform drafting committee

On Twitter: @aaiusa