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Folks monitoring religion and the 2004 presidential campaign will certainly be buzzing about today's front-page story in The Washington Post, "Kerry Keeps His Faith in Reserve." The deck hits one controversial point: "Candidate usually talks about religion before black audiences only."

Jim VandeHei writes, "Outside of black churches or meetings with African Americans such as those at the NAACP convention yesterday, Kerry has been largely silent about the personal Catholicism that once inspired a flirtation with the priesthood and the Christian beliefs friends and family say guide his life and political thinking."

That "should be a bombshell," writes Jeff Sharlet over at New York University's religion blog, The Revealer.

The Post tags this devotion as strategy, but ignores its inherent racism. Imagine, for instance, if it was reported that Kerry loves to dance, but only when he's around black people. The Post would probably try to interview Baryshnikov. When it comes to Kerry, religion, and black churches, they don't seem to be able to find any theologians, black Protestants, or ordinary believers of any variety to talk to. Instead, the article is simply a meeting in print of usual suspects, Washington "bigs" who know as much about religion as they do soccer -- or, at least, soccer moms.

Okay, Sharlet says, they do hit one important name, Amy Sullivan, who has been on a long crusade to get the Kerry campaign and other Democrats to talk more about—and, more importantly, to understand—religion.

But "Sullivan takes pains on her own blog to explain why and how the Post got her wrong," Sharlet writes. Well, not quite, but she does go into much more detail about her comments. "Democrats who only talk about religion in black churches look just as guilty of pandering as Republicans who wield faith to ply votes," she says.

No one is saying -- and I certainly have not said -- that John Kerry should start talking like an evangelical, that he needs to give testimonials about how much his experience as an altar boy has shaped his life, or that he should start spouting religious language that he doesn't believe just to make voters happy. Drawing on religious principles to explain to some voters why they should support him and his policies, however, is an entirely different matter and one that he and his campaign are starting to pursue in an extremely effective manner.

That's what the Post concludes, too. "Kerry may be slowly coming to the view that religion must play a larger role in his campaign outside of black churches, some advisers said," writes VandeHei. "Some advisers … have suggested he dedicate a speech to the role of faith in dictating his values, perhaps at an evangelical school or seminary. But Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's communications director, said there are no plans for the candidate to deliver such a speech."

If Kerry does speak at an evangelical school, it probably won't be Liberty University. "I believe it is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew, every Reagan Democrat, and everyone in between to get serious about re-electing President Bush," Jerry Falwell wrote in the July 1 issue of his "Falwell Confidential'' newsletter and on falwell.com. He also urged his supporters to donate to Gary Bauer's Campaign for Working Families.

Since Falwell's article went out on the letterhead of Falwell's 501(c)3 organization Jerry Falwell Ministries, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint with the IRS, saying the pastor violated tax law.

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48