Donald Trump attracted a lot of attention recently in Iowa for suggesting that John McCain is not a war hero because he was captured by the enemy during the Vietnam War.
It was an outlandish remark, and one for which he was duly criticized. But another comment by Trump may ultimately give him more trouble with voters in Iowa and beyond. Asked whether he ever sought God’s forgiveness, Trump said, “I am not sure I have … I don’t think so. I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture.”
Perhaps Trump was being candid, or maybe he had seen the recent Pew Research Center survey finding that the share of Americans who are unaffiliated with any religion has increased, to 23 percent of adults. Maybe Trump has concluded that he can compete for the presidency without thinking or talking about faith.
But while the ranks of the faithful may be diminishing slightly, the overwhelming majority of Americans — approximately three-fourths, according to Pew — still identifies with a faith.
Moreover, while the so-called “rise of the nones” has captivated some in the media, a related development has gotten much less attention: People want more religion in their politics. In other words, contra Trump, most Americans want their elected leaders to “bring God into that picture.”
A 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that while 72 percent of the public sees religion’s role in politics receding, “a growing share” sees this as a bad thing. The percentage that wants churches to express their views on social and political issues rose 6 points between 2010 and 2014, to 49 percent. That’s more than the 48 percent who say churches “should keep out of politics.”
In addition, 41 percent of Americans say there is too little religious expression in politics. And a growing minority of Americans, 32 percent, even thinks churches should be able to endorse candidates for office (up by a third since 2010), which currently most churches do not do for fear of losing their tax-exempt status.
What’s more, several polls have shown that voters don’t want to vote for candidates — and especially candidates for president — who don’t believe in God. A Pew poll found that 60 percent of Americans want members of Congress to have strong religious beliefs.
And according to a 2012 Gallup poll, Americans would sooner vote for a gay or Muslim presidential candidate than an atheist. Perhaps many people believe as our first president did that, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”
One need only glance at the headlines to get a sense of why Americans prefer that their elected leaders have faith in God. Between racist church shootings, the continued rise of Islamic extremism and the deepening moral confusion that pervades popular culture, many Americans yearn for representatives who are guided by something beyond their next election.
We have seen in the reactions of the family members of the nine people slaughtered at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., what a deep and abiding faith can do. Their unflinching forgiveness so soon after their loved ones’ deaths is nothing short of astonishing, miraculous even.
There’s a reason why faith has been the motivating force behind many of our most important social and political movements, including the battle to abolish slavery, the fight for civil rights and the continuing struggle to end abortion. Nothing motivates people to look beyond themselves and their own interests like faith does.
Some liberal commentators will always see any infusion of religion into politics as an intrusion. They seem not to realize that the most important conflicts today involving politics and religion have to do not with people of faith imposing their religion on others but with aggressive government intrusions on religious liberty, often via executive action or judicial fiat.
Some critics have even warned that politicians who put their faith in the Bible would place their fealty to the Constitution second. In a recent Politico op-ed, Michael Shermer writes that “It’s time we stop electing politicians who put their religion before the Constitution or insist that they will pray before making political decisions” and instead “rely … on reason and science.”
It is ironic that Shermer criticizes Christian conservative politicians for not placing enough emphasis on the Constitution. Liberals constantly complain that conservatives place too much faith in our founding documents. Or as leftwing pundit Alan Colmes has put it, “conservatives basically want to have sex with the Constitution.”
So which is it: Do Christian conservatives rely too much on the Constitution or not enough? The Left can’t seem to decide.
According to Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, 72 percent of Americans believe the state of moral values in the U.S. is “getting worse.” Only 22 percent believe it’s getting better.
I’m sure many Americans see a role for science-based public policy in turning around the moral state of the country. But I suspect most Americans believe the answer lies not only in reason and science but also in faith in God and the transcendent.
Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer is president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. Follow him @GaryLBauer. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
