The Old Lion and His Faith

Senator Ted Kennedy passed away last week, and his death has brought accolades from people all over the political spectrum. Even former political rivals on the right eulogized him as a "worthy adversary" with more than one Republican saluting his dedication to the American people and the citizenry of Massachusettes.

I grew up nominally Catholic, and in our 3rd grade CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, essentially Sunday School for Catholics) class, I remember having a discussion about then Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, her Catholic faith, and her support for abortion. I don't totally remember what my CCD teacher's specific response, but I did walk out with the general impression that my teacher thought negatively of Ferraro's inconsistency between her faith's doctrines and her political platform.

Naturally, some of those same things applied to Ted Kennedy, someone who is painted as someone who valued his faith, even if not always evident in the public eye. And like Ferraro, his stance on a number of policies stood in stark conflict with church teachings. In a rare allusion to his faith, Kennedy said the following in 1983:

"I am an American and a Catholic; I love my country and treasure my faith. But I do not assume that my conception of patriotism or policy is invariably correct, or that my convictions about religion should command any greater respect than any other faith in this pluralistic society. I believe there surely is such a thing as truth, but who among us can claim a monopoly on it?"

And it's this principle (which is a mantra often repeated by politicians) that I still cannot fully grasp. If your faith is, as definition would dictate, something that defines truth and the way in which you view the world, how can you possibly check that at the door? Doesn't faith (or lack thereof) necessarily alter one's way of looking at the poor and defenseless? Doesn't faith color one's perspective on crime, punishment, justice and mercy?

I acknowledge the complications of representing constituents in a pluralistic society, but then what is the politicians' remit? To support positions of the plurality of his constituents and their respective moral and religious principles? To simply be a referendum proxy? I think if we dig a litle deeper, we find that all politicians are influneced by "religion" in their votes - it's just a matter of which one - and the list of religion includes humanism, nominal Christianity, and "I'll just do whatever I think can get me re-elected."

As for Ted Kennedy, Godspeed. 47 years in the Senate and your dedication to education and poverty issues deserve to be saluted.