Being Christian has significant voter appeal for candidates for the presidency of the United States.
“Because the United States is highly churched as a people, religiosity is a factor in the U.S. that is a little bit more significant in many countries,” James Scott, the Herman Brown chair and professor of political science said.
There certainly appears to be increased religious chatter regarding selecting the right candidate for the presidency. Religion has become increasingly important to voters in recent years.
“I think that American candidates for the presidency or other high office, elected officials often try to demonstrate that their values and identity in this regard is consistent with mainstream American views. In that sense, being a person of faith or expressing values consistent with people of faith, a variety of faiths becomes more important in elections,” Scott said.
It occurs to me that the important aspect of a candidate is that he or she should be an American. Their religious beliefs should not be a deciding factor. Unfortunately, being an American is not enough for some people. Candidates also have to be of a certain faith. And that faith is Christianity.
“I would say candidates from the Jewish and Muslim traditions have a very steep challenge to face in the American public. Just as candidates from any minority identity group have steep challenges,” Scott said. “It very much depends on where one is from and which office is being sought. A candidate running for office in Texas will be under kinds of imperatives to demonstrate religiosity than candidates from New England.”
Unfortunately, I find myself agreeing with Scott. The bar is set very high for members of religious minority groups. This hurdle is not as high for those that fit in to the “one of us” group. This in itself is a major barrier to candidates that self-identify as being members of a minority religion.
That is simply because American voters have a tendency to look for people who are like them: in views, in identity and in experiences. It would be a very steep challenge to achieve the national support for members of religious minority groups, Scott said.
Is this acceptable? Are Americans not all created equal? An American is an American regardless of which religion an individual identifies with. The same standards should apply to all Americans.
“The United States is subdivided into many factions and different constituencies when it comes to different kinds of faith and different levels of faith. So, different candidates trying to appeal to different constituencies will be under more or less pressure to demonstrate those things,” Scott said. “There is however this vast middle, independent voters, roughly a third of the voters who like the value language but do not necessarily subscribe to or espouse particular faith as long as the value language is consistent.”
Shain E. Thomas is a senior film-television-digital media major from Scotland.
