2 of 6

She most recently wrote an article for Sojourners about religion and secularism in the Democratic Party.

"I was so inspired to see a candidate who was willing to stand up for the things I believed in that I decided to leave my job," she said about joining the campaign. "I passionately wanted to galvanize the faith community around the candidate that had captured my heart and imagination." But it wasn't easy. As she tried to convince campaign staff that a "secular image" was bad for votes, she said, "I was quickly dubbed the 'church lady'."

But she's not talking about the Kerry campaign— Vanderslice, now 29, became religious outreach coordinator for the Howard Dean campaign. And when Dean said he'd talk about religion only in the South, and referred to Job as his favorite book in the New Testament, he "came across as insensitive and out of touch," she laments. Kerry, she says, has a better chance at being authentic when he talks about faith.

"If Kerry continues to use religious language appropriately … and embraces the millions of religious Americans that are the base of his supporters, he might just change some assumptions about the 'secular' Democratic Party, and in the process, pick up a crucial constituency that could tip the balance of the election," she said.

Ultimately, I can't separate my Christianity from my values or my values from my politics. For me, being engaged in politics is an expression of my deepest held religious beliefs—it is about actualizing a collective commitment to protect the integrity of God's creation, it's about meeting the needs of the "least of these," and about our nation being a generous and trustworthy leader in the world. There are certainly positions taken by leading Democrats with which many Christians won't agree—and many Christians are appalled by what they see as the exploitation of religion for political gain on the part of the Republican Party. The bottom line in applying our beliefs in the political arena is making an across-the-board assessment of who best represents the values we hold most dear.

(Weblog hasn't had time to listen to Vanderslice's 2002 comments on the G8 Summit and debt relief, but here's audio and video.)

Vanderslice's comments hardly seem those of an extremist, and she should not be attacked for trying to bring a religious perspective to the rallies she spoke at, regardless of what else happened there. Donohue, who crowed over Vanderslice's silencing, risks sounding like the Pharisees who criticized Jesus for the company he kept. But even those Pharisees didn't criticize Jesus for the company his company kept.

Now, Democratic Party adviser Amy Sullivan told The Washington Times, the Kerry campaign has withdrawn plans to create a "people of faith" area of the campaign website , and has "no one in their communications shop who is conversant in religion." That hardly seems like good news, even if you're a religiously conservative Republican.

Religion & politics:

• New group targets religious conservatives | A new independent-expenditure group, backed by the John Templeton Foundation, is targeting what political analysts regard as President Bush's electoral ace in the hole — religious conservative voters (The Washington Times)
• Lawmaker's take on Moon fete is crowning oddity | The most disturbing thing is not that U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D.-Ill.) attended an elaborate coronation ceremony in Washington for the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife (Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune)

next page... |  2 of 6

share this page

June (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48