Is our electoral process
better off without the polarizing issues of faith-based politics at center
stage? Or does the absence of explicit moral and religious expression
impoverish our political debate? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:
Texas Faith is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News managed by
Editors William McKenzie and Wayne Slater, the material is contributed by
several panelists including Mike Ghouse, for all responses visit http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2012/07/texas-faith-is-it-good-or-bad-that-god-and-religion-have-gone-missing-in-the-presidential-race.html/
MIKE GHOUSE, President,
Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas
Absence
of faith will not impoverish political debate; in fact, it will enrich it with
a focus on the most important economic need of the day: jobs.
Congress,
Senate or the President is not in the business of establishing or supporting a
religion; their responsibility is to be a catalyst and serve Americans in the
pursuit of their happiness and economic freedom.
Faith
should not be a factor in this election, as both parties stand to lose; the
Democrats worry about the Catholic vote and the GOP stands to lose if they make
an issue out of Romney’s faith, it would mean back peddling.
Social
issues will be played out by the Democrats; the anti-GLBT-abortion-immigration
stance of GOP will be a fodder to the Democrats. The CBS poll in May
discovered that 62% of Americans “believe that same-sex unions should be
recognized by law.” While we remain divided on abortion, Romney
cannot afford to flip flop on immigration.
GOP
may not even succeed in carving up an enemy out of Sharia. First of all,
American Muslims are not asking for it, and secondly it will not pass the House
and Senate, let alone the president signing it. Democrats will hit them hard
for squandering public time on a non-existent issue.
GOP’s
chorus about repealing Obama care on the first day in office will fall flat on
its face, unless both the houses and the Presidency is Republican. The
Republicans would risk losing votes of the young people benefiting from
insurance coverage of their parents.
As
a disclosure, I am Moderate Republican, and when I posted a note on Facebook
and my blog congratulating fellow Americas upon Judge Roberts’s decision, an
incredible number of Republican men and women came out of the closet and
appreciated the decision. Thus we have Obama Republicans now.
Absence
of faith talk will not be missed, our nation is operating on Maslow’s hierarchy
theory, and Jobs is our priority, food is more necessary than faith, and abuse
of religion for politics may not work this time.
I
hope the debates remain focused on economy, and for entertainment they can
resort to Presidential dogs, vacations, Kissing Children, pipe line, fund
raising and the price of rice in China.
MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily.
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