re: #177 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

Part of what opened the door to smuggling faith into politics is, sadly, Jimmy Carter.

When John F. Kennedy ran, he went to great pains to note he would not be beholden to diktat from the Holy See, but would uphold the secular Constitution (partly because of Protestant bigots).

In Jimmy Carter’s case, Republicans went on their usual “godless liberals” rant, and rather than ignoring them, he campaigned partly on the depth of his faith, breaking 176 years of tradition in presidential politics (save for the attacks against Thomas Jefferson by the Federalists accusing him of being an atheist).

By prominently positioning his faith in the forefront of his campaign in 1976, he opened the door to the theocrats on the right like Ralph Reed to smash down the wall of separation of Church and State which characterised presidential politics.

Nobody had any problem with Nancy Reagan’s White House astrologer planning Ronnie’s agenda. At least Bush, Sr and Jr could make some claim to having regularly attended church.