More on religion in the presidential race

At The Daily Beast, Micheal Medved joins the current discussion, set off by Bill Keller’s recent Times article, on religion’s role in the presidential race:

The candidates themselves should continue to ignore Bill Keller and his interrogation, not because the questions are hostile and mean-spirited (though they certainly are) or because they are profoundly difficult to answer (which they certainly are not). The problem with the whole line of discussion involves its power to distract from the central concern of all voters, which remains the sorry state of the American economy and the appalling absence of new jobs.

It makes sense for Obama sympathizers to try to change the subject (by discussing attitudes toward evolution and other irrelevant controversies) just as Republican leaders who seek to replace the beleaguered president should concentrate relentlessly on the all-important economic issues and refuse to take the religion-bashing bait.

Click here to read Medved’s take.

Amanda Kaplan is a Masters student at the Draper Interdisciplinary Program in Humanities and Social Thought at New York University, a consultant for projects on religion and the public sphere at the SSRC and a regular contributor to here & there.

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