Why Should We Care About The Religious Views of Our Candidates?

by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
for Jewish Week Online

As the Presidential race progresses, once again the role of religion in politics has re-emerged as a common tension that cannot be dismissed. American Jews have often feared bringing religion into the political discourse out of fear of anti-Semitism, but this concern has hopefully lessened since Senator Lieberman was a serious Presidential candidate while being open about his traditional Jewish practices and perspectives. In our commitment to build a just society, we have an imperative to ask questions about the religious views of our politicians.

A recent study in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion found that there is no difference between the ethical behavior of religious believers and nonbelievers; rather, the key difference was the type of, and approach to, religious belief. For example, they found that those who believed in a loving, compassionate god were more likely to cheat than those who believed in an angry, punitive one. Religious beliefs matter in moral decision-making.
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