By: James Sherk

19 January 2004 Campaign 2004: Examining Dean's New Public Religiosity.

The rise of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was the most significant political event of 2003. Appealing to the left wing core of the Democratic party by denouncing Bush's tax cuts and the war in Iraq, the formerly obscure Governor of one of America's least populous states rose to become the frontrunner for the 2004 Democratic nomination for President. With a commanding lead in the polls, a campaign war chest that dwarfs his opponents, superior grass roots organization, and a cadre of 600,000 dedicated leftist followers, the unapologetically liberal Gov. Dean now appears the inevitable Democratic nominee.

Looking beyond the Democratic primaries to the general election, the Dean campaign understands that it badly trails President Bush every public poll. Indeed, in a January 2004 Gallup poll, President Bush led Gov. Dean by twenty two points among likely voters, 59% - 37%(1). Consequently, Dean has begun attempting to broaden his appeal beyond his liberal base to the general public. Many of Dean's positions make this difficult, such as his desire to repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts, including the substantial cuts that middle class Americans received, and his assertion that America is "no safer" following the capture of former Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein(2).

Yet the greatest challenge to Dean's efforts to win the election may prove the religious divide in American politics. Overwhelmingly, observant Christians tend to vote Republican, while secular voters heavily favor Democrats. In the 2000 election, voters who attend Church more than once a week favored Bush by twenty seven points, while voters who never attend services went for Gore by twenty nine points(3). Irrespective of this divide, an overwhelming majority of Americans want their President to be a man of faith. A 2000 poll conducted for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press revealed that seventy percent of Americans believe that the President should have "strong religious beliefs"(4). Other polls have shown that overwhelming majorities of Americans would not vote for an atheist.

This presents a serious problem for Governor Dean, since he has, until recently run a stridently secular campaign. As the center-left New Republic reports, Dean openly states that "[I] don't go to church very often," and that "my religion doesn't inform my public policy"(5). The Associated Press reports that, during his eleven-year tenure as Governor of Vermont, Dean never publicly discussed his religious beliefs(6). In mid 2003, Dean explained, "I don't think that religion ought to be part of American policy"(7). Dean has even publicly objected to opening each session of congress with a prayer(8). In fact, Dean openly denounced observant Christians on the campaign trail. At a speech to the California State Democratic Convention, Dean proclaimed that he didn't "want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore" (9).

Recently, however, with the Democratic nomination seemingly within his grasp, Governor Dean has reversed his course and begun freely discussing his religious beliefs. According to an article reporting on an interview with the Boston Globe, "Dean said that Jesus was an important influence in his life and that he would probably share with some voters the model Jesus has served for him"(10). Christians should, of course, welcome all who sincerely accept Jesus as their savior into membership in the body of Christ. Indeed, Christians are fortunate that in America, unlike much of Europe, Christian politicians can publicly embrace their faith and voters will elect openly Christian leaders. America needs Godly leaders who understand that they serve a higher authority than their own ambitions. But Jesus did not die to elect politicians, and faith in Christ should never be treated as a campaign prop. Disturbingly, Dean's newfound religiosity appears more grounded in political necessity than in genuine faith.

Clearly, no servant of Christ has the authority to judge his fellow men. In the words of the apostle Paul, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand"(11). God makes it perfectly clear that only He, not any man on this earth, has the authority to judge the sincerity of someone's faith. However, in America, Christians do have the authority and the duty to participate in the election of the President of the United States, and they should evaluate the public positions of the major candidates. Additionally, they should carefully consider the implications of electing a candidate who appears to view membership in the body of Christ as nothing more serious than a campaign tactic. While Christian voters cannot know Gov. Dean's heart, his words and actions give this impression.

Until recent weeks, Gov. Dean's actions gave the strong impression that he did not take his faith seriously. His brother told the New Republic that Dean stopped going to Church at the age of thirteen, when his father stopped making him attend, and that "[Religion] is just not something we really talk about"(12). Since then, except for political events, Dean has rarely attended worship services. Furthermore, Dean, raised an Episcopal, became a Congregationalist, in his words, "'because I had a big fight with a local Episcopal church about 25 years ago over the bike path"(13). The Episcopal and Congregationalist churches disagree on many serious issues, such as the nature of the Lord's Supper and the role of the Church hierarchy. The fact that none of these issues affected Dean's decision to become a Congregationalist, the fact that he switched simply because the Episcopal Church opposed a bike path that he supported, strongly suggests he does not consider doctrinal issues important. Dean also has a long history of casually taking the Lord's name in vain. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial catalogued numerous instances where Dean abused the Lord's name, although this website will not reproduce his profanities(14).

Dean has also made it clear that his religious beliefs have not changed during the course of the campaign; he still holds the views that lead him not to attend church, rarely discuss his faith, casually switch denominations, and abuse the Lord's name. In his words, "The campaign has changed the way I am willing to talk about religion. It has not changed my religious beliefs"(15). A Christian has difficulty reconciling Dean's actions with the behavior of someone who claims, as Dean does, to be "a committed believer in Jesus Christ"(16).

Dean also gives the appearance of knowing very little about the basics of Christianity. When asked to describe the model Jesus sets in his life, Dean responded "Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind, … He fought against self-righteousness of people who had everything . . . He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2000 years, which is pretty inspiring when you think about it"(17). True enough, but Dean totally neglected to mention that Christ's death and resurrection atone for our sins, or that God calls believers to imitate Christ. As the Apostle Peter writes, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps"(18). Yet Dean utterly neglected to mention this. Indeed, if Jesus had done nothing more than set "an extraordinary example," then he was little more than a crazed lunatic, a mere mortal claiming divinity, and his teachings are but the ravings of a madman. The idea that Jesus merely set "an extraordinary example" implies that the Christian faith is a lie. But it was the first thing that came to Dean's mind when asked to describe the role Christ plays in his life.

Dean has also demonstrated a breathtaking ignorance of scripture. In a recent interview with reporters, Dean began a discussion on religious issues with the statement "If you know much about the Bible - which I do - " which prompted a reporter to ask Dean his favorite book in the New Testament. Dean's response? The book of Job, adding "But I don't like the way it ends. Some would argue, you know, in some of the books of the New Testament, the ending of the Book of Job is different. I think, if I'm not mistaken, there's one book where there's a more optimistic ending, which we believe was tacked on later"(19). Leaving aside the issue of Dean's implication that the ending of Job was not divinely inspired, it takes an astounding lack of knowledge of the Bible to place the book of Job in the New Testament.

Dean also appears willing to contort scripture to serve his own ends. As Governor, Dean signed a Civil Union Bill to grant homosexual couples all the legal rights of married couples in the state of Vermont. Many Christians objected to this law since it granted favorable legal treatment to behavior God explicitly condemns. Recently, however, Dean claimed that his Christian faith lead him to support the Civil Unions law. In an interview he stated that "The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic component to it … from a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people," and that "My view of Christianity . . . is that the hallmark of being a Christian is to reach out to people who have been left behind … So I think there was a religious aspect to my decision to support civil unions"(20). Of course, God explicitly condemns homosexual behavior in both the Old and New Testaments. Following Dean's logic, if the Lord thought sin was a sin, he would not permit people to be born sinful. Dean also ignored the fact that, while all people are born sinful, through the power of Christ's death and resurrection, we can overcome our sinful natures and the desires of the flesh.

More disturbingly, Dean appears to have made his comments on Civil Unions solely to claim his faith guided his policies, not because it actually did. In a candidate debate shortly before he made the above comments, Dean was the only candidate unable to provide an example in which his faith had guided his policy positions(21). Subsequently he claimed that Christian teachings were central to his decision to support Civil Unions. However, the Associated Press examined Dean's record while he was Governor and discovered that he never mention his Christian faith when discussing the reasons he supported the Civil Unions bill(22). It appears that Dean only claimed religious reasons for supporting Civil Unions so that he would not appear totally secular, the only candidate for President whose faith never affected his public positions. Christians should have serious issues with a candidate who treats his faith as no more than a political prop.

Dean's public statements also leave the strong impression that he views his new public religiosity as primarily a method of reaching out to swing voters, particularly those in the South. Reporting on a December interview with Dean, the Boston Globe reports that Dean said "he expects to increasingly include references to Jesus and God in his speeches as he stumps in the South." Later, the same article explains Dean confessed that "he was raised in the 'Northeast' tradition of not discussing religious beliefs in public, and said he held back in New Hampshire, where that is the practice. But in other areas, such as the South, he said, he would discuss his beliefs more openly."(23)

In a separate January interview with reporters, Dean admitted that campaign trips to Southern states, particularly South Carolina, which holds one of the first Democratic presidential primaries, have prompted his recent discussions of his Christian faith. Dean frankly stated that "I am still learning a lot about faith and the South and how important it is," and that he has learned that "faith is important in a lot of places, but it is really important in the South - I think I did not understand fully how comfortably religion fits in with daily life - for both black and white populations in the South"(24). Why would someone who has called himself a "committed believer in Jesus Christ" find it unusual for faith in Christ to fit in easily with daily life?

Only the Lord knows Howard Dean's heart, and he may well have a genuine faith in Christ. However, Dean's words and actions leave the strong impression that he does not take his faith seriously, and that he views it primarily as a means of overcoming a political disability and persuading swing voters to side with him. Christians should beware candidates who mouth Christian platitudes without substance. Christ clearly stated that His "kingdom is not of this world,"(25) and politicians who see Christ's death as nothing more than an instruments to gain worldly power do not deserve Christian support.

(1) Online http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr040108.asp
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(2) "Dean Labels Bush Reckless," The Washington Post, Dec. 30th, 2003. Ceci Connolly, page A04. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39768-2003Dec29.html (back)
(3)Voter News Service 2000 election exit poll, available from CNN online at http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/epolls/US/P000.html (back)
(4)The Pew Research Center for People and the Press, report available online at http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=32
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(5)"Beyond Belief: Howard Dean's Religion Problem," The New Republic, Dec. 29th, 2003. Available online at: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=u4BDXy1QP9wDtyBarRdMvg==.(back)
(6)"Dean Didn't Mention Faith in 2000 Speech," Ross Sneyd, The Associated Press, Jan. 8th, 2004. Available online at: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-elect/2004/jan/08/010809814.html.(back)
(7)"Dean Narrowing His Separation of Church and Stump," By JODI WILGOREN The New York Times, Jan. 4th, 2004. Available online at: nytimes (registration required) (back)
(8) Seeking New Emphasis, Dean Touts his Christianity," Sarah Schweitzer, The Boston Globe, Dec. 25th, 2003. Available online at: Boston Globe. (back)
(9)"Dean and the Fundamentalists," The National Review Online, John J. Pitney, Jr., Sept. 22, 2003. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/pitney200309220843.asp
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(10) "Seeking New Emphasis, Dean Touts his Christianity," Sarah Schweitzer, The Boston Globe, Dec. 25th, 2003. Available online at: Boston Globe. (back)
(11) Romans 14:4, NIV translation.(back)
(12) "Beyond Belief: Howard Dean's Religion Problem," The New Republic, Dec. 29th, 2003. Available online at: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=u4BDXy1QP9wDtyBarRdMvg==
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(13) "Democrat's Tap Dance on Religion is 'Playing With Fire,'" Robert Novak, the Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 8th, 2004. Available online at: http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak08.html (back)
(14)For those interested, the editorial appeared in the January 8th, 2004 issue of the Wall Street Journal, entitled "In God He Trusts," by Christopher Buckley. Available online at the Opinion Journal at: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004538.
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(15)"Dean Now Willing to Discuss His Faith," Jim VandeHei, The Washington Post, January 4, 2004. Available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52646-2004Jan3.html.
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(16)"Seeking New Emphasis, Dean Touts his Christianity," Sarah Schweitzer, The Boston Globe, Dec. 25th, 2003. Available online at: Boston Globe. (back)
(17)Ibid.(back)
(18)1 Peter 2:21, NIV translation.(back)
(19)"Dean Narrowing His Separation of Church and Stump," By JODI WILGOREN The New York Times, Jan. 4th, 2004. Available online at: NYTimes (registration required).(back)
(20)"Dean Says Faith Swayed Decision on Gay Unions," The Washington Post, Jim VandeHei, Jan. 8th, 2004, available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63152-2004Jan7.html.
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(21)Ibid.(back)
(22)"Dean Didn't Mention Faith in 2000 Speech," Ross Sneyd, The Associated Press, Jan. 8th, 2004. Available online at: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-elect/2004/jan/08/010809814.html.(back)
(23)"Seeking New Emphasis, Dean Touts his Christianity," Sarah Schweitzer, The Boston Globe, Dec. 25th, 2003. Available online at: Boston Globe. (back)
(24)"Dean Now Willing to Discuss His Faith," Jim VandeHei, The Washington Post, January 4, 2004. Available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52646-2004Jan3.html.
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(25) John 18:36, NIV translation. (back)