"How the Democrats Got Religion"

I heard this Time Magazine article discussed on one of the political talk shows. The whole process interests me of course, especially because, as I've said many times before, I'm sick and tired of the right portraying liberals as having no values. However, I think it's incredibly significant that in a multiple-page cover story in Time Magazine on religion and politics there is not one mention of Jews or Judaism. This is exactly why I'm skeptical of a Democratic appeal to "religion" - because "religion" in America so often means exclusively Christian. I'm not secular and I'm not a religious Jew, but I am Jewish, and it makes me incredibly nervous when people talk about America as a Christian nation - that kind of marginality has historically been shown to be quite hazardous to one's health.

Here's a link to the story, and the first paragraph:

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1642649,00.html

Thursday, July 12, 2007
Time Magazine Cover Story
How the Democrats Got Religion
By NANCY GIBBS AND MICHAEL DUFFY

A President has to be a preacher of sorts, instructing, consoling, summoning citizens to sacrifice for some common good. But candidates are competitors, which means they seldom manage to talk about faith in a way that doesn't disturb people, doesn't divide them, doesn't nail campaign posters on the gates of heaven. Republicans have been charged with exploiting religious voters, Democrats with ignoring them . . .