Kevin Spidel posted a thoughtful diary today at Daily Kos posing that question, using Peter Roskam’s 2010 challenger, Ben Lowe, as a case in point.
My answer is an unequivocal “yes”.
Excluding anyone on the basis of their religious belief is wrong and efforts to do so should be deplored by all Democrats. I admit to having a reflexive tendency to react negatively to avowed Christians, particularly Evangelicals, running for political office. That tendency is based on years of experience with the likes of Jerry Falwell and Tony Perkins. But assuming that all Evangelicals share their world view is not correct and, to the degree that I do so, I am guilty of the same kind of intolerance peddled by them.
We are only beginning to be acquainted with Ben Lowe. Let’s ignore the stereotypes and let him speak for himself about who he is and what he wants to achieve through his candidacy. While it is too early to promise Ben my vote, he has my attention, and I am encouraged by what I have heard so far. I support his candidacy as a Democrat.
I am firmly committed to preserving a woman’s right to choose. I am equally committed to LGBT rights. A candidate’s positions on these matters are important and they affect the way I vote. But, for me, anyway, there is no litmus test. Our country and our planet face some many critical problems right now – global climate change, poverty & hunger, a looming water crisis, a health care crisis – and we have to be willing to work with everyone to attempt to resolve them. I would remind everyone that we presently have a Representative, voting on our behalf, who seems to think everythings hunk dory as long as we keep giving tax breaks to rich folks. It is hard to imagine that a person like Ben representing us would not amount to an improvement.
At any rate, I hope that Democrats will give Ben a chance to speak for himself on issues like abortion and LBGT rights rather than rush to judgement. If anyone is truly attempting to undermine his candidacy, I hope they will cease and desist. We should be thanking Ben for having been willing to step up to the plate when no one else would.
Update: Kevin’s post referred to above has been deleted from Daily Kos but is available on MyDD. Not sure what happened on Daily Kos to prompt the deletion. I thought it was a great post. There was a pretty vigorous discussion going on when I last saw it but seems like that’s a good thing, that Democrats wrestle with this issue. Also, check out Ben Lowe’s thoughts regarding Faith and Politics.
Related posts:
Religion does not belong in any political party. If there’s anything the slave-owning founding fathers got right, it was separation of church and state. They are getting too closely linked in the US in my opinion, and I think it is a very dangerous path to go down (gay marriage, abortion, the death penalty, holiday decorations, etc). If political, judicial, or legislative decisions are made on the basis of religion, we might as well toss the Constitution and replace it with the bible. Then we are all in big, big trouble.
I’m with you Joanne. We’ll find out soon enough exactly how Mr. Lowe weaves his faith into his political posture. While willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, I’m wary and suspicious.
Should we as democrats be scared about someone who calls him or herself religious? What candidate doesn’t. Roskam is Episcopalian, right. Lowe calls himself evangelical. Both should be judged on the basis of their political beliefs and past actions, or record…
I agree Sue. The problem comes in when the religious beliefs of the candidates are used to make policy decisions. One perfect example of that is the “debate” about evolution vs. creationism. Creationism is a religious belief and has no place in our public schools (besides the FACT that it has no basis in reality). Other examples are gay marriage, homosexuality’s existence at all, abortion, and end-of-life care. These are all personal life decisions and should never be legislated.
I also agree w/ Sue. Ben Lowe is not going to legislate his religion for factional gain; rather, his religion motivates him to work for the common good. Just check out Ben Lowe’s blog link at the end of the main post.