“I’m not a witch.”
Those now regrettable words, spoken by Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, will probably go down as one of the most interesting starts to any political ad ever. Close behind it, however, would have to be Jack Conway, running for senate in Kentucky, using the phrase “Aqua Buddha” in an ad questioning opposing candidate Rand Paul’s belief in Christianity.
In both cases, these political ads boil down to one basic concept used in politics for far too long: a person’s faith, or lack thereof.
This is not an attack against religion. Despite my own views, I do not look down upon those who profess faith. Instead, this column is aimed at the belief being a good Christian will make you a good politician.
It does not guarantee it in the slightest, and ads like these have only served as an easy way to smear opponents and cause uproar. These politicians sound as if they have nothing of substance to put in a commercial, so they take the easy, distasteful way out.
To be fair, this method of thinking seems to describe the way most politicians deal with events these days, so I guess it’s wrong for us to expect anything more.
While these ads have been pretty bad this year, as it is during most election years, they still pale in comparison to those which aired around the 2008 election. Ridiculous does not begin to describe it.
For those who don’t remember — or simply didn’t care — the months leading up to the election were filled with attacks toward candidates’ faith, most of which were aimed toward Barack Obama. These messages ranged from accusations of secretly being a Muslim (which some people still believe to this day) to attacking his attendance of a church lead by controversial pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Unsurprisingly, people started believing Obama was a Muslim who listened to a radical pastor. Beyond the absurdity of the claims, it begs the question: So what?
Despite how much I disagree with their politics, this standard also applies to O’Donnell and Paul. As long as a politician doesn’t let his or her religious views color and shape their politics, it really shouldn’t concern the public at all.
Should it matter if a politician is Muslim, Wiccan, Catholic, Protestant, Atheist or Pastafarian? In a country that claims to tolerate people of all faiths, and where religion and politics are meant to be kept separate, the answer should be no.
Unfortunately, things aren’t always as they should be, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
In today’s world of religious intolerance of politicians, one has to wonder if some of our founding fathers would have been able to find seats in today’s government. Even back in his time, Thomas Jefferson was called a heathen and an infidel and thus unfit for office because he did not hold traditional Christian beliefs. If he, or some who seemed to share similar views like James Madison, were running for office this November, you can be assured their faith would be attacked.
While anyone professing belief against the norm is facing an uphill battle, it seems those who openly admit no faith commit political suicide.
A statement from Mitt Romney, a politician who faced his own problems because of his religious beliefs, sums it up best:
“I think people in this country want a person of faith to lead them as their governor, as their senator, as their president,” Romney said in an interview in January 2006.
Simply put, Americans don’t want atheists in office.
Yet, we can all see cases where “good, Christian politicians” have gone wrong. Whether it’s Mark Sanford using state money to visit his Argentinean mistress, David Vitter and his prostitutes or Richard Nixon’s wiretapping, we can see faith does not necessarily make one a good politician.
In the end, it shouldn’t matter what a candidate’s religious views are. Politicians should stop utilizing such a disruptive smear tactic against their opponents and actually talk about the issues at hand.
Can I get an amen?
 
Zachary Davis is a 19-year-old history sophomore from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter@TDR_zdavis.
 
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Contact Zachary Davis at [email protected]