Local Voters Weigh Religion’s Role in Politics Ahead of Elections
News Story by Morgen White | FāVS News
In a recent survey from the Religion News Service just over half of Americans will pray before casting their vote in November. A majority of respondents, 58%, also say religion will play an important or essential role in whom they will support for president.
Adelle Banks, projects editor at RNS, however, said what that might mean isn’t clear.
“We don’t know whether that means they’re praying for a particular candidate. We don’t know whether that means they’re praying for a peaceful election or peaceful transfer of power or any number of things,” she said. “But in my reporting, I’m hearing people talk about those very things, about peace and about listening to one another and trying to get along despite political differences.”
While many Americans might be praying before casting their vote, a similar number believe that religion plays a negative role in politics, with 84% saying religion has created division between Americans.
Learning to disagree agreeably
Earlier this year Banks covered a story at the Washington National Cathedral that involved Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Gov. Wes Moore (D-Maryland) making ads together to remind Americans to not let politics ruin relationships. They also wanted to encourage people to vote.
These ads are part of an initiative called Disagree Better from the National Governors Association. During her coverage of the story there was a presentation at the Cathedral that discussed depolarization.
At this presentation, Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist and one of the speakers, sat next to Gov. Cox. He admitted to her that when he was younger, he used to see her on TV and wanted to argue with her, Banks said.
“After hearing what she had to say under the arches and amid the stained glass of the Cathedral, he said he loved her,” Banks said. “And so I’d say that that’s an example of the way political divides can be bridged.”
Although the majority of Americans believe that religion plays a negative role in politics, the majority of respondents showed a favorable view of religion in relation to charitable works, healthcare, arts and entertainment, education and global issues.
Despite religion causing conflict in 20% of respondents’ families, nearly all of the respondents said it is somewhat to extremely important to understand different religions.
Candidates at 5th Congressional District debate respond to RNS survey
On Oct. 21, the 5th U.S. Congressional District candidates, Michael Baumgartner (R) and Carmela Conroy (D), debated on the Washington State University campus.
The debate included a plethora of issues including topics around abortion, gun safety and global conflict. While religion and values were not a centerpiece of the debate’s topics, they were intermingled in the candidates’ answers.
After debating, both candidates stuck around to speak to audience members.
Baumgartner made it clear that religion is a foundation for his family.
“My wife and I are Catholic and go to Mass every week with our kids. So you know, it’s an important part of who you are as a person,” he said.
Baumgartner said religion plays positive role in politics
When it came to RNS data suggesting that Americans believe that religion plays a negative role in politics he adamantly disagrees. He saw religion bring bipartisan candidates together when he served as a senator.
“We started every session with a prayer, and it was a good bipartisan moment,” Baumgartner said. “It was going to Mass every week at the state’s capitol where it actually was an opportunity for both Republicans and Democrats to be together.”
He also emphasized the importance of religion and religious institutions for communities. He said they care for the homeless and the sick. They also help educate the population.
“I also think it’s just really important for people’s social health and wellbeing, mental wellbeing, that they participate in some sort of community activity,” Baumgartner said. “So I see it as a positive role in politics.”
Conroy believes religion’s role in politics is more complicated
While Baumgartner’s experience only reflects religion having positive impacts in politics, Conroy related a mixture of thoughts.
Her friend once asked her why she believes that abortion is a religious issue.
“If you are in a situation where you have to choose between the life of the mother and the life of the child, the Catholic Church teaches to save the child. That’s a fresh, innocent soul who should have the opportunity to live a life,” Conroy said to her friend.
“My friend was horrified,” she said. “My friend was from a different faith tradition that says that the mother is also a wife and a daughter and a sister, and that faith teaches that she must save her own life and fulfill the duties that she has as a living, breathing member of the community.”
Her friend’s faith tradition claims that a young soul that has never drawn breath just wasn’t meant to be.
Although Conroy has seen religion impact politics in ways that haven’t always been positive, she was raised by a Roman Catholic mother who used her faith to fight for communities around her.
Conroy shares how faith can be positive
Her mother strongly supported Pope John XXIII and the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Those reforms empowered the Catholic laity to use their faith to work toward a better world and fight for justice, Conroy said.
Conroy’s mother showed her the positive parts faith can bring to communities.
At 3, Conroy remembers asking her mother to buy grapes at a grocery store. Her mom told her the people who picked them had asked the community not to buy them.
She later learned her mom was responding to the 1965 Delano grape strike led by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, where Mexican and Filipino farm workers were demanding fair pay and humane treatment.
She remains steadfast in upholding the Constitution by being a true public servant for all faiths.
“I take that to heart, and I hold on to the idea that, as a public servant, it is none of my business what anybody else’s religion is,” Conroy said. “And I must never let my own religious preferences, my own faith in any way, create a discriminatory atmosphere for the people I’m serving.”
Locals respond to RNS survey
FāVS wanted to find out what local voters thought about religion and its impact on politics.
WSU student Preston Horgan said although he views himself as a Catholic and religious person, “The founders wanted separation of church and state, and I try to isolate my religious views from who I plan on voting for.”
Horgan was not alone in this sentiment.
Camryn Jewell, also a WSU student, was raised in a religious household. She says she understands why religion and politics get intertwined especially when America’s forefathers held similar religious views many still hold today.
However, Jewell has concerns about religion in politics. She thinks it’s really important candidates keep their religion and their politics separate.
“I would say that a really big motivator for me and who I vote for is the separation of church and state,” Jewell said. “And I don’t think that somebody’s religion should disqualify them as a candidate at all in any way.”
Nathan Tims, 42, said religion informs his worldviews, but he believes that everybody should have the freedom of choice.
When it came to whether religion had a more positive or negative impact on politics, he said he believed that was more complicated.
On the negative end he used the example of groupthink to illustrate religions and their possible negative impacts on politics. Often in groupthink, if one group doesn’t see things the way their group does, “they are an enemy,” he said.
“But there are positive aspects where it treats people with respect, treats people with love and allows people the freedom of choice no matter their religion,” Tims said.
