Hillary "the most religious Democrat since Jimmy Carter"? This does not. . .

[wndycty]

. . .bother me, but it really has to bother some on the DU, especially those who ripped on Obama. I think its time for everyone to acknowledge the role of faith in politics is not going anywhere soon, and at the very least with Hillary, Obama, Edwards, etc., they will respect the separation of church and state.

Can She Reach Religious Voters?

By Michael Gerson
Wednesday, September 26, 2007; A19

During a question-and-answer session at Tufts University immediately after the 2004 election, Sen. Hillary Clinton identified the alienation of religious voters as one of the Democratic Party's main problems. And the appeal she proposed was straightforward: "No one can read the New Testament of our Bible without recognizing that Jesus had a lot more to say about how we treat the poor than most of the issues that were talked about in this election."

There was a stiff dose of political calculation in her remarks -- but also a streak of sincere liberal Protestantism. As Clinton methodically consolidates her hold on the Democratic presidential nomination, Republicans are facing, in the words of her spiritual biographer Paul Kengor, "the most religious Democrat since Jimmy Carter." And this introduces an unpredictable element into a wide-open election.

Republicans are accustomed to Democrats who are either frankly secular -- Howard Dean once asserted, "My religion doesn't inform my public policy" -- or so uncomfortable with religious language that, were the sound on the television switched off, you'd think they were admitting a sexual vice instead of affirming their deepest beliefs.

Clinton is neither secular nor awkward about her faith. She cites her Methodist upbringing as a formative experience, with its emphasis on "preaching and practicing the social gospel." As a teenager in 1962, she heard and met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago -- what would have been a profound experience for a spiritually alert youth -- and was later politically radicalized by his assassination. The likely Democratic nominee participates regularly in small-group Bible studies and is familiar with the works of Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich and Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- the theological heroes of mainline Protestantism (and of some stray Evangelicals like myself).
-snip-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092501754_pf.html

[IndianaJones]

1. I got no problem with her or Obama. nt.

[Danieljay]

2. Who she is speaks so loudly I can't hear what she's saying. n/t

[aquart]

7. Especially with your fingers in your ears yelling "Na, na, na."

Ever so impressive.

[Tom Joad]

3. i don't care about religion or lack thereof, it's the issues.

[acmavm]

8. EXACTLY! Her politics suck.

[aquart]

11. That's what I like. A reasoned argument full of factual detail.

[acmavm]

13. That's good.

[Tom Joad]

26. why repeat what is obvious and already been said a thousand times?

[aquart]

10. And she has just used religion to retake liberal issues.

Less John 1:16, more Matthew 25:34-46

34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”
40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”
41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?”
45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

[karynnj]

28. She is not the first politicain to use this verse

I don't know who was - but I bet it was before we all were born. That is not a very unusual verse.

[hobbit709]

4. Which religion, if any, a candidate has

should be a private matter and no one else's business.

[Tom Joad]

5. My problem is that Hillary does not respect the separation of corporations and State.

[democratsin08]

6. she is a great christian

one of the reasons i like her so much

[movonne]

9. And she will continue to wine and dine them if she gets the nomination...

religion keeps the masses dumb down...

[MethuenProgressive]

12. "This does not bother me, but..." I'll post a shit stirring flame bait thread anyway

Nice Obama pic in your post, btw. :eyes:

[jjungle]

14. not all democrats

are atheists, most are god fearing christians and I think that a stereotype that is used far too much.

[donheld]

17. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Honeycombe8]

33. True. If the stats I've read are true, most Dems are at least somewhat religious, mostly Christian.

Plus lots of Jews. With a sprinkling of this and that. Very few atheists (there are few atheists in the country at all).

[wndycty]

16. Well considering that its popular to bash Obama for his outreach to faith. . .

. . .I think its 1) important to show he is not the only Democrat of faith; 2) raise the point that faith will continue to be a subject that candidates embrace.

For the record, I'm not religious, but I'm bothered by the backlash against religion.

[dsc]

15. While she would be the most religious nominee since

probably her husband, not Carter, she wouldn't even be close to the most religious primary candidate (we have had at least two reverends run).

[karynnj]

29. Even that might not be true

Teresa and John Kerry are religious. Kerry's Pepperdine speech is well beyond most politician's comments. Al and Tipper Gore likely were religious as well.

[bigdarryl]

18. Are people on another planet when did she ever speak about RELIGION

[FlaxieB]

19. Hillary is no more religious that a chicken supporting KFC.

She's a fake, phony and conniving. She only uses the religious angle to pander to voters. Example, she goes to an African American church in the South and tries to sound like a Baptist minister when she speaks. Goes to a Catholic church in the north and her tine is totally different. She is so full of shit she needs a diaper permanently attached to her ass!:puke:

[flaminbats]

23. ohh, and I thought Republicans were the fakes!

they call themselves pro-life, then oppose health care for the children of working families because it might "reduce profits for private insurers." :cry:

Republicans call themselves compassionate, then they hire contractors and campaign contributors to impose martial law in Iraq. Republicans claim to have family values, but when Hillary Clinton sticks with her husband through good and bad times..she's only a phony or a fake! :eyes:

sorry but speaking to Catholics and Baptists doesn't make Hillary less of a Christian, because actions speak louder than the empty promises or vain hypocrisy of Republicans like Larry Craig!

[Ethelk2044]

24. That is a good one.

[Danieljay]

31. Typical Politician. She wins. Not much changes. n/t

[MadHound]

20. Oh, it goes deeper than that

"Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer."
<http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer.html>

Hmmm, hobnobbing with members of the Fellowship, rubbing bibles with Brownback and Santorum, chummy with AIPAC. Gee, look what you find when you scratch off Hillary's thin "liberal" veneer.

[Danieljay]

32. Dont' scratch to deep, there may be a closet Republican under her skin. n/t

[noamnety]

21. I don't like the impression that article leaves.

During a question-and-answer session at Tufts University immediately after the 2004 election, Sen. Hillary Clinton identified the alienation of religious voters as one of the Democratic Party's main problems. And the appeal she proposed was straightforward: "No one can read the New Testament of our Bible without recognizing that Jesus had a lot more to say about how we treat the poor than most of the issues that were talked about in this election."

I didn't hear the Q&A obviously, so I'll leave it as the impression of the article, but I don't like the implication that religion = Christianity, automatically. What Jesus said in the bible isn't relevant to all religious people.

[More Than A Feeling]

22. Come talk to me

when people openly without faith aren't largely disqualified by that fact from having a chance to win elected office

[ileus]

25. She's only religious to get 00&04's repuke voters...calm down

Every thing most people take issue with concerning Hillary is fake. Her record is playing into our hands, once the good ole boy establishment votes for her she'll switch back to our side like in the 90's....Have a little faith.

[yardwork]

34. Hillary Clinton has always been upfront about her faith. This is not new.

She has always spoken out about her faith. It's just that the mainstream media are so busy painting every Democrat as "godless heathen lib'ral atheists" they "forgot" to notice her, and so many other Christian Democrats.

Believe me, I've noticed. As a Pagan, I notice that every single damn Democratic candidate in my lifetime has felt obligated to blather on about their faith. The only difference between them and the Republicans is that I believe most of the Democrats are sincere in their faith, as opposed to most of the Republicans, who worship only the god Mammon.

Hillary Clinton is deeply religious. So is Barak Obama. So is John Kerry. So is Bill Clinton. And so forth.

[karynnj]

27. How do you measure how religious a person is?

Also, is that even what they are speaking about. If they mean the most religious Democratic President since Carter, there is not much competition. If they mean all Presidential candidates, I remember far more time when Biden has referred to his Catholic childhood in stories filled with nuns, priests and confession. I hear Kerry using words related to morality far more often and more naturally. That is not recent - even in his Senate testimony he referred to wishing a merciful God would erase the memories of Vietnam that haunted many. What about Lieberman, our VP candidate, who doesn't often wear a yamulke?

In all honesty, there is no way to determine who is more religious. It is not who goes to church more.

[IndianaGreen]

30. Nothing like holding to irrational beliefs!

T-Rex as Noah's pet!

[DemBones DemBones]

35. She's in prayer groups and Bible study groups

with very right-wing Republicans, all connected with The Fellowship. That concerns me and should concern everyone.

I certainly don't have a problem with Christian presidents but we don't need another Christian president who will fight wars in the Middle East because they believe it's necessary to protect Israel so Jesus can return. I don't understand people who think they can manipulate God like that but we have seen that they have gotten us into several wars.