ON SATURDAY morning I had a revelation. I'm sitting in my room, minding my own business and absorbed in the inaugural speech of our newest president, when out of the blue, I was blindsided by this reference to scripture: "When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho," said President Bush on the steps of the Capitol, "we will not pass to the other side." This noble quote was a surprising change to the humdrum of inaugural prose.
Why then, did I fidget in my seat uncomfortably and look away from the television? Religion has no place in government. Why is our president quoting the Bible? A leader's sense of right and wrong - even if grounded in religion - is one reason for his election. The religious overtone of the Bush address made me realize that the public should focus on the strength of a leader's convictions - and not their source.
One could hardly call the outgoing Clinton administration religious. Simply put, it wasn't. Personal indiscretions aside, President Clinton didn't routinely quote scripture in his speeches and certainly didn't proclaim that religion would "have an honored place in our plans and in our laws," as our newest executive did on Saturday.
The separation of church and state was once the defining characteristic of American democracy. Candidates with strong religious beliefs were still elected by the people, but the distinction between religion and public society was always crystal clear.
Things got awfully cloudy during the campaigns last year, to the point that now we have a president referring to the Bible in his first official address to the nation. That's going a little too far.
Last year, the Democratic Party - which has long criticized the conservative right's insistence that religion has a place in government - applauded the nomination of Joseph Lieberman, a devout Jew. Vice President Gore was determined to distance himself and his party from the Clintonian morals and ethics that disgusted the American public and have tarnished the presidency. Not surprisingly, then-Governor Bush had also chosen the same path, using the cleanliness of the religious veil to appeal to voters as well.
The Constitution never intended, nor does it allow religion to be a determining factor in the political process. How can a freethinking government function when its leaders are quoting the Bible or making references to religion? Simply put, it can't.
The Democratic Party promises to block the confirmation of attorney general nominee John Ashcroft because of his strongly Christian anti-abortion, anti-affirmative action, pro-death penalty stance. Many of Ashcroft's views are grounded in his deeply Christian faith, but who isn't driven by their beliefs?
Some Democrats have hinted that they may oppose his confirmation because his religion may "keep [him] from being able to perform [his] duties in office." Not only is it a gross double standard for the party - who supported Lieberman despite his religious convictions. Moreover, it is unconstitutional to judge a person by his religion. The issues, not the religion, must judge a candidate.
It was foolish for President Bush to nominate a candidate as controversial and extreme as Sen. Ashcroft without the advantage of a public mandate. The criticism partly is Ashcroft's fault for seeking a government position charged with enforcing the nation's laws when he believes some of those laws to be unjust. But mostly, the Bush administration is to blame for bringing religious issues into the public square and invoking the name of God.
A representative at the higher levels of government should be elected because the morals and values that he projects are the morals and values that the public demands. For many Americans, their personal religion shapes their integrity and values. The public accepts that integrity without necessarily accepting the individual religion - or any religion, for that matter.
Most politicians use the values that their religions have taught them - not the religions themselves - when determining the issues they support. That's a good thing. It allows the public to elect a representative who not only proposes a sound tax plan, but also has the will to fight for the values that the people believe in.
God forbid President Bush and Sen. Ashcroft concentrate on the issues and not spirituality to rally public support for their controversial policy ideas.
(Luke Ryan's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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