https://www.onfaith.co/commentary/vice-president-of-religion?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share-explanation
You might say I watched the October 4 vice presidential debate “religiously.” I thought the moderator’s most interesting question was whether Tim Kaine and Mike Pence had ever struggled to balance their personal faith with a public policy decision. This was probably the most civil and thoughtful conversation in a previously contentious debate, with neither debater wishing to criticize religion. Each said he had a lot of respect for the sincere faith of the other.
You might say I watched the October 4 vice presidential debate “religiously.” I thought the moderator’s most interesting question was whether Tim Kaine and Mike Pence had ever struggled to balance their personal faith with a public policy decision. This was probably the most civil and thoughtful conversation in a previously contentious debate, with neither debater wishing to criticize religion. Each said he had a lot of respect for the sincere faith of the other.
I like to know positions that politicians take, and why they took them. I think basing positions on a legislator’s personal religious faith is a bad idea, though I might have good secular reasons to agree with that same position. If a politician focuses on portions of ancient religious texts to justify a vote, I think the politician either has no rational argument for it or is pandering to voters of that faith.
Kaine mentioned he had struggled as governor of Virginia to uphold capital punishment, which his Roman Catholic faith opposes. He said he tries to follow Catholic teachings in his personal life, but as an elected official it is his duty to uphold the law. Governor Kaine presided over eleven executions.
My favorite comment from Kaine was, “In this First Amendment nation, we don’t raise any religion over the other. He added that he doesn’t believe the doctrines of any religion should be legislatively mandated for everyone. In short, Tim Kaine believes in separation of church and state.
Pence brought up abortion, while not acknowledging any struggles between his personal faith and his public policy decisions. He said, “For me, the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief, that ancient principle where God said, ‘Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you.”’ Pence believes that this quote from Jermiah1:5 should trump the rights of Americans who don’t share his views. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, end funding for Planned Parenthood because it offers abortions, and even ban valuable fetal tissue research.
It’s always dangerous to govern a country as if it were a theocracy, but if our country were a theocracy I could counter Pence’s biblical view that abortion is murder with other biblical passages. For instance, Exodus 21:22 says that if a man strikes a woman and she has a miscarriage, then he must pay a fine to her husband (for destroying his property). However, if his wife dies, then he is given the death penalty for committing murder. And according to Numbers 3:15, neither fetuses nor infants under one month are counted as people. The Bible is full of contradictory and ambiguous statements, and politicians can pick and choose their biblical reasons for “moral” positions.
Pence has previously used his religious beliefs to argue why his state should be allowed to discriminate against gays and lesbians, which I hoped would come up during the debate. I would have liked Kaine to mention the moral and financial price for Indiana after Governor Pence signed into law a religious freedom bill that was interpreted as state-sanctioned discrimination against LGBT people. The bill was amended after businesses threatened to cancel expansions and mayors of major cities called for a boycott of Indiana.
Like Pence, I don’t struggle with how to balance personal faith and pubic policy decisions—this is never a problem for atheists. I make decisions based on evidence, rather than anachronistic pronouncements from ancient texts. I’ve heard a number of statements recently about President Kennedy’s tax policy, but I wish politicians would quote his comment in 1960, “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.” Religious or not, we deserve politicians who give good secular arguments for their decisions.
Kaine mentioned he had struggled as governor of Virginia to uphold capital punishment, which his Roman Catholic faith opposes. He said he tries to follow Catholic teachings in his personal life, but as an elected official it is his duty to uphold the law. Governor Kaine presided over eleven executions.
My favorite comment from Kaine was, “In this First Amendment nation, we don’t raise any religion over the other. He added that he doesn’t believe the doctrines of any religion should be legislatively mandated for everyone. In short, Tim Kaine believes in separation of church and state.
Pence brought up abortion, while not acknowledging any struggles between his personal faith and his public policy decisions. He said, “For me, the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief, that ancient principle where God said, ‘Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you.”’ Pence believes that this quote from Jermiah1:5 should trump the rights of Americans who don’t share his views. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, end funding for Planned Parenthood because it offers abortions, and even ban valuable fetal tissue research.
It’s always dangerous to govern a country as if it were a theocracy, but if our country were a theocracy I could counter Pence’s biblical view that abortion is murder with other biblical passages. For instance, Exodus 21:22 says that if a man strikes a woman and she has a miscarriage, then he must pay a fine to her husband (for destroying his property). However, if his wife dies, then he is given the death penalty for committing murder. And according to Numbers 3:15, neither fetuses nor infants under one month are counted as people. The Bible is full of contradictory and ambiguous statements, and politicians can pick and choose their biblical reasons for “moral” positions.
Pence has previously used his religious beliefs to argue why his state should be allowed to discriminate against gays and lesbians, which I hoped would come up during the debate. I would have liked Kaine to mention the moral and financial price for Indiana after Governor Pence signed into law a religious freedom bill that was interpreted as state-sanctioned discrimination against LGBT people. The bill was amended after businesses threatened to cancel expansions and mayors of major cities called for a boycott of Indiana.
Like Pence, I don’t struggle with how to balance personal faith and pubic policy decisions—this is never a problem for atheists. I make decisions based on evidence, rather than anachronistic pronouncements from ancient texts. I’ve heard a number of statements recently about President Kennedy’s tax policy, but I wish politicians would quote his comment in 1960, “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.” Religious or not, we deserve politicians who give good secular arguments for their decisions.
