If there was one prevailing factor in the presidential election, it was faith. Faith brought unprecedented numbers of voters to the polls for George W. Bush and made it a "sin" to vote for John Kerry in the eyes of some church leaders, and many of their followers. Faith handed the Republicans unprecedented control of every branch of government, a control likely to strength in coming years unless the Democrats wage the faith war on their own terms.
I have heard talk from many friends and relatives in recent days about the hopelessness of the current political battle being waged to decide where the national political focus will be. The Democrats are the self-described party of inclusion and tolerance. This is something we cannot and will not abandon, something that defines us and makes us so wonderful. Still, we are a party filled with the faithful, in a country filled with the same, and so there is absolutely no reason why we cannot let our faith draw people to us.
A fear of alienating our most liberal voters has led Democrats to tread lightly on matters of faith. We are constantly defending ourselves against accusations that we are godless, and we have let the Republicans define faith and use it against us. This is where we have lost, and lost huge. This is also the very territory on which to turn the tables and win the faith war.
Why is it that those aspects of faith that tend to work for more traditional Republican values seem to be the only aspects of faith and religion ever brought into politics? Why is it that only those tenets of the Bible that single out certain groups of people for discrimination seem to find their way into the public policy debate? Why is it that Republicans have successfully made marriage and abortion the only important issues in that faith war? It is because the Democrats have failed miserably to define any other issues of religion and belief and demonstrate how well they play into Democratic ideology.
Aren't the notions of assistance to the poor and aid to the sick mainstays of Christianity, Judaism and Islam alike? Does not God reward those who bring peace to the world, and punish those who wage war without just cause? And surely, if one believes that Earth is a creation of God, then how can the Republicans justify their reckless policy regarding its protection?
In a time when the implications of government action reach far beyond matters that can be addressed in a purely religious context, the Democrats have lost control of the direction of our country, and as a result, our future. In order to regain the trust and the votes of the majority of Americans, Democrats can, and perhaps must, look to those tenets of Western faith that we as party already embody. We do not need to alter our ideology in least - we simply need to alter our message and our context. In this way we can draw countless wayward religious factions back to the Democratic party and continue to fight the righteous fight for rights, justice, peace, the planet and the true American way.
Jacob Izenberg '08 has some faith in the sound. It's the one good thing that he's got.
