On Campaign Trail, Democrats Put Their Faith in Book of James

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: On Campaign Trail, Democrats Put Their Faith in Book of James
By Benedicta Cipolla
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
Saturday, July 12, 2008; B09

When Sen. Barack Obama talks about faith, he sometimes invokes the New Testament Book of James and its admonition that "faith without works is dead." As she competed for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York frequently did the same, often more regularly than Obama (D-Ill.), though what she called her "personal theology" sometimes took a different tack, saying that "works without faith is too hard."

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) also called upon James in the 2004 election, saying, "There's a great passage in the Bible that says, 'What does it mean, my brother, to say you have faith if there are no deeds?' " Even back in 2000, in trying to characterize George W. Bush's outreach to African Americans as shallow, Al Gore invoked James in a speech to the NAACP: "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."

The repeated references to James highlight an often overlooked and sometimes criticized book of the Bible. For centuries, its supposed conflict with St. Paul and the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone relegated it to the sidelines of biblical scholarship. Yet the book is finding new life in American politics, with James emerging as the Democrats' go-to theologian, and his epistle as their favorite passage of Scripture.

"'Faith without works is dead' translates politically into 'rhetoric without action is dead,'" said Kevin Coe, co-author of "The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102745_pf.html

[liberal N proud]

1. Maybe after 8 years the American voter will understand

[LiberalFighter]

2. If it didn't help Kerry to win the election or Clinton the nomination

Then why would that be the key to Obama winning the election? The emphasis is key. It will be other factors that will win the election for Obama. A bible passage are just words.

[knitter4democracy]

3. Ah, the ignored epistle.

James is often ignored in evangelical churches (at least it was when I was in one). They may know where the reference is from, but with their emphasis on Pauline theology, it's not going to fly. He needs to focus on the Gospels when talking with them (remind them of the Two Greatest Commandments and the Seven Woes--they know those).