Douglas W. Kmiec

Recently the New York Times lauded Senator Obama for his “profile in courage” in addressing, as the Times  put it, “race and religion, the two most toxic subjects in politics.”    I, too, commend the Senator, and indeed, his intelligent appraisal helped convince me to endorse Senator Obama for the presidency, even though it requires me to absent myself from my natural home in the Republican party, and ethically requires (in light of my Catholic faith) that I state unequivocally that I find the Senator’s position on abortion to be unacceptable and intrinsically wrong. 

At some point, I hope to raise the abortion issue with the Senator to explore where common ground may exist to reduce this practice which takes innocent life. It deserves to be asked whether a fully informed woman would choose abortion in a culture that better honored her own dignity and affirmed the linkage of sexual intimacy with a mature willingness to welcome new life or one that actually organized work to respect, not subordinate, the family.

In this comment, however, I wish simply to take issue with the Times  and others praising Senator Obama’s speech on race at the National Constitution Center by gratuitously caricaturing an earlier moment of great eloquence in the 2008 campaign – Governor Mitt Romney’s thoughtful remarks on “Faith in America.” It seems as if some favoring Senator Obama believe the way to build him up is to tear another down. Thus, the Times  editorialized that Obama “was as powerful and frank as Mitt Romney was weak and calculating . . . .” This is not only substantively false, it is also a means of discourse that is, well, frankly, mean-spirited, and directly contrary to Senator Obama’s general campaign approach of seeking to heal division, rather than abet it. 

More importantly, it obscures that Senator Obama and Governor Romney have much agreement on the significance of faith to public discourse.   Consider these comments from Senator Obama: “a sense of proportion should guide those who police the boundaries between church and state.”  “Not every mention of God in public is a breach of the wall of separation. Context matters.” For this reason, he continues, “it is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase 'under God'.” Drawing upon a sense of history and the importance of faith in American life, Senator Obama concludes that “having voluntary student prayer groups using school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the high school Republicans should threaten Democrats. “People are tired of seeing faith used as a tool to attack and belittle and divide.” 

Those are Senator Obama's words -- indeed, prayer, -- and they run in tandem with – not in opposition to -- the insights of Governor Romney who stated: that “Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.” The American proposition does not require the shedding of religious distinctiveness, said Romney. “Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.” In words that are anything but “weak and calculating,” Romney boldly observed that “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.” In recounting his own personal journey of faith, Obama likewise recalled how he could engage in community organizing in behalf of the poor, but without faith he would always remain "apart and alone."  Faith did not mean said Senator Obama that one was without doubt, but it does mean hearing God's Spirit beckoning him.”

It is unhelpful and misleading to create an artificial division between Obama and Romney on the issue of religion in order to admire Senator Obama’s call for unity on matters of race.  In this regard, it was not surprising that Obama would reference the Gospel to point us in the right direction. Romney did too.