Religion and Politics Issue Page

Yesterday, the Matthew25 Network had a conference call with reporters to unveil their plans for the general election. The group is composed of believers who are Democrats and who are "inspired by the Gospel mandate to put our faith into action to care for our neighbor." The group is the brainchild of Mara Vanderslice, who held the thankless job of religious outreach director for the religiously challenged Kerry campaign in 2004, but whose talents at organizing religiously motivated voters has gained the attention of leading Democrats since Kerry's loss.

Thirty local activists who want to mobilize Catholic voters around the full range of Catholic social issues met yesterday to raise awareness. "We are trying to influence the Catholic vote for the common good," said Lois Campbell, the local field organizer for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, which sponsored the meeting. The group plans to run phone banks to urge Catholics to vote with many issues in mind. The alliance believes that Catholics have been frustrated by partisan politics, with the Republican Party claiming opposition to abortion and the Democratic Party claiming support for a social safety net. The group says it is trying to get Catholics to base their electoral decisions on all of these issues.

On Tuesday night, Sen. Joseph Lieberman spoke again to Christians United for Israel- with the tone and biblical references of a sermon- telling Pastor John Hagee's group, "We Americans have real enemies; we do not need to make enemies of each other." At last year's conference, Lieberman compared the controversial religious leader to Moses. He did so again Tuesday in a speech that offered an extended defense of the Texas pastor and, at the same time, a clear disapproval of some of Hagee's past statements. But the rest of the senator's remarks at the group's third annual Washington summit focused on the ongoing security concerns shared by Israel and the United States.

It has taken a man of God, perhaps, to do what nobody else has been able to do since the general election season began: Get Barack Obama and John McCain together on the same stage before their party conventions later this summer. The Rev. Rick Warren has persuaded the candidates to attend a forum at his Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16. Mr. Warren, the author of the best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," said he had called each man personally to invite him to his event, which will focus on how they make decisions and on some of Mr. Warren's main areas of focus, like AIDS, poverty and the environment.

Pope Benedict XVI continued to paint his distinctive shade of green in Australia yesterday, repeatedly voicing environmental concerns while linking them to a broader range of Christian doctrines and moral teaching. In a session with leaders of other religions held in the Chapter Hall of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral, the pontiff said religions have a unique capacity to foster "sacrifice and self-discipline," including "a moderate use of the world's goods." That ethos, the pope said, leads men and women "to regard the environment as a marvel to be pondered and respected, rather than a commodity for mere consumption."

Barack Obama has a Catholic problem. He doesn't need to take drastic action to make up for this deficit. He doesn't need to bring a Catholic priest into his "brain trust" like FDR did in 1932, and he doesn't need to win overwhelmingly among Catholics like John F. Kennedy did in 1960. But here's the interesting part: In articulating his economic views in ways that are especially accessible to Catholics, Obama would do much more than just increase his chances with that constituency. He'd discover that Catholic social thought provides Democrats with the kind of moral vision and linguistic clarity that their economic positions have lacked for decades now.

The concept of the common good, an idea that winds through time from Plato to Aquinas, to the U.S. Founding Fathers and, on the way, through a number of popes, got a boost in Philadelphia July 11-13 when a crowd of more than 800, mostly Catholics, showed up to affirm a political platform based on the idea. "What we're trying to do is expand the debate about what faith can be in the political arena," said John Gehring, senior writer for Catholics in Alliance. "The religious right has had a monopoly on the debate for too long. We're seeing a change now not just in the Catholic world but among evangelicals."

In this part of the country- halfway between Sioux City, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, S.D.,- separating religion from politics is folly. Religious conservatives here were energized by President Bush's public declaration of faith and handed him a landslide in 2004. With growing sway in the state GOP, they recently captured a prominent party leadership post. "It's just kind of a tepid response," he said. "McCain really hasn't convinced them he has the same fervor about the appointment of judges, about the right to life."