Dems' Ideology Up for Debate

Dems' Ideology Up for Debate

At last night's Democratic debate on MSNBC, candidates gave some revealing responses to questions on faith, parental authority, and traditional marriage. On the issue of homosexuality in the schools, the question was asked of John Edwards if he would be comfortable having the "King and King" fairy tale--which ends with two men kissing and living "happily ever after"--read to his young children as part of the curriculum. Edwards responded, "...I don't want to make that decision on behalf of my children. I want my children to be able to make that decision on behalf of themselves, and I want them to be exposed to all the information, even in (chuckling), what did you say, second grade? Well, second grade might be a little tough but even in second grade, to be exposed to all those possibilities. Because I don't want to impose my view--nobody made me God--I don't get to decide on behalf of my family and my children... I don't get to impose on them what it is that I believe is right." At the conclusion of the debate, Tim Russert referenced the discussion of faith in the Democratic party. He asked simply, "What is your favorite Bible verse?" Of all the responses, none included an actual Scripture citation and only one hopeful--John Edwards--directly quoted a verse from memory. Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) responded with "The Golden Rule," which is commonly mistaken as Scripture, though, as the New York Times political blog notes, Luke 6:31 approximates it. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) said, "The Sermon on the Mount," and went on to talk about how it spoke to "social justice and equality." I think it's interesting that the media uses knowledge of one Bible verse as a measuring stick for spirituality. Plenty of hopefuls from both parties can quote Scripture, but they should be evaluated not by how many verses they know but how they apply them to their daily lives and political thought.

Additional Resources
The Democrats Quote Scripture