February 2005: “Faith matters first and foremost to me.” April 2005: “I have been blessed by the Lord.” April 2005, Allen’s spokesman: “[I]t’s important to remind people of your moral grounding and basic faith.” Yesterday: “Whether one person believes in — whatever their beliefs may be — is not relevant. Why is that relevant? My religion, Jim’s religion, or the religious beliefs of anyone out here?” (Via Raising Kaine)
You know, if Allen weren’t being hypocritical on this, I’d stand up and cheer for the man, or so I hope I’d do. We need more elected officials saying that their faith is a private matter, and it’s not subject to public discussion or debate. I’ve wanted to hear that for years.
If Allen had meant it, I’d count this as a watershed moment in politics. But he didn’t. He was giving a politically expedient answer in order to squirm out of what I assume he felt was an awkward situation.
Here’s hoping this represents a genuine change in view for him, and that he ceases talking about his faith from here on out. But I’m betting he won’t.
Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 19 September 02006 @ 1pm
[...] Since FRC is not exactly a champion of religious freedom for anyone other than far-right Christian Nationalists, maybe Allen can draw on his newly discovered ecumenicalism to educate them. It will certainly be interesting to compare what he has to say to the FRC audience with what he says above. Not to mention with what he has had to say on the subject in the past. [...]
Posted by Loudoun Democrats » Blog Archive » So is faith important or not? on 19 September 02006 @ 3pm
Waldo Jaquith (JAY-kwith) is a website developer and political pundit who lives in the vicinity of Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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