As Americans grapple with the nation’s most difficult economic challenges in decades, it might seem surprising that religion and the culture wars have played such a prominent role in the current presidential campaign. But we shouldn’t be amazed. Though issues and tactics have varied, religion has always been a factor in American politics.
Texas found itself in the middle of the drama early on this time around. Gov. Rick Perry launched his campaign just a week after hosting a large and widely publicized public prayer rally for evangelical Christians at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
More recently, conservative evangelicals have begun to rally around Rick Santorum’s candidacy, prompting a group of evangelical heavyweights to call an emergency meeting to discuss a possible GOP candidate endorsement.
Then there is the quiet but persistent concern among some Christian conservatives about the Mormon faith of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, and continued discussion in the blogosphere about President Barack Obama’s religion and moral values. A 2010 Pew poll found that nearly one in five Americans believed Obama is a Muslim.
Voter anxiety about religious affiliation arises so often in American politics — recall the candidacy John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, in 1960 — it is tempting to concur with the writer of Ecclesiastes that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Yet if we look closely, it is possible to identify a few shifts in the role religion plays in U.S. elections.
Some have observed subtle but significant changes taking place among evangelical voters — especially young evangelicals. Issues such as environmental stewardship, poverty and immigration have begun to gain traction with evangelical voters. Even old-guard leader Richard Land, the conservative public policy chief for the Southern Baptist Convention, is warning Republicans that a hard-right position on immigration — deporting millions of illegal immigrants — could be dangerous politically as well as morally.
Clearly the ground is shifting as new issues come to the fore and new voices enter the public square. That’s why the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy recently invited a number of leading thinkers — from varied sides of the political spectrum — to come to Houston for a free public symposium on Jan. 25, 2012, to consider these matters. The role of religion in our elections is too significant to ignore.
The event, “Religion in the 2012 Elections,” featured presentations from some of the leading researchers and national commentators on the nexus of religion and politics. Directly below is video from the event’s first panel, which features John Green of the Pew Center; D. Michael Lindsay, former Rice University professor and current president of Gordon College; syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts; and Texas Monthly senior executive editor Paul Burka. There are also links to the entire event.
Video 2: “Examining “New” Issues in the Culture Wars: Islamophobia,” M.A. Muqtedar Khan
Video 3: “Politics, Religion and Immigration,” Elaine Howard Ecklund
Video 4: “Examining “Old” Issues in the Culture Wars: Abortion and Gay,” Anna Greenberg
Video 5: “Religion, Science and Politics,” Neal F. Lane
William Martin, Ph.D., is the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute and the Chavanne Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Rice University. He oversees the institute’s Religion and Public Policy Program.