Should faith be an issue at the DNC?

The Democratic Party has made a big hubub about involving faith in the party at the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Denver. The first-ever Interfaith Gathering took place on the eve of the convention, and it was generally well-received after the intial interruptions from Operation Rescue activists (see Sunday's entry).

Patrick Whelan of Catholic Democrats leads a prayer at the Interfaith Gathering

There have also been faith caucuses this week. The general tone at these events was that Democrats have always had faith, and now they need to embrace it. I thought there was some useful information for Democrats, especially about how to get out the faith vote. Democrats seem to recognize that people of faith really don't have a party right now.

But is that the whole story? Here's what Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a pro-life Democrat, told me Wednesday:

"I think there’s more room today, but we’ve still got a ways to go. I think we’ve made some progress, but I would not say that it’s complete yet."

I have noticed that the party is still very uneasy talking about religion. People have gone out of their way to say that religion has always been part of the party, but there certainly is a concerted effort to court the faith vote (except from Barack Obama's outreach people, who seem to be tougher to find than Atlantis). Even at a gathering of Democrats for Life of America, speakers were initially reticent to say things like "God Bless You."

On the streets of Denver, it appears the attitude toward religion and faith-based messages is outright hostile -- keeping in mind that not all people I encounter on the streets are here for the convention, and that some of the faith-based messages are off the mark. Some examples of conflict:

Anti-abortion activists who were outside the Colorado Convention Center and Pepsi Center were met with vitriol. People called them stupid, they yelled at activists, and they even at times resulted to physical tactics.

This group from Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust had signs that were not graphic in nature. Yet they were subject to ridicule and derision. A sample comment yelled out from one young man: "I killed my baby and I'm proud of it." One man in his 40s or 50s tried to rip a sign out of the hands of a teenage girl.



Randall Terry and his anti-abortion followers at Operation Rescue use extreme measures to get their message across, including pictures of abortions (I had to cut out the graphic part of this sign). I'm on record stating that I think this approach is probably counter-productive to changing people's minds.



Still, one United Auto Workers union member used intimidation and nasty words (can't repeat 'em here) as he walked within inches of Terry.



But abortion can sometimes become a heated political debate. Let's see some people carrying outright biblical messages.


A good message we can all get behind, right? This man told those engaged in argument that he would be remiss as a Christian not to try to tell other people of the way to salvation through Jesus Christ. People felt offended by it. You decide whether he was over the top.

As far as I could tell, the below group was anti-sinner as well as against organized religion, viewing it as an obstacle to following Christ. Its members were met with catcalls by those opposing Christianity.


More than anything else, messages decrying abortion and those espousing Christian beliefs have been met with the most opposition this week. I don't necessarily agree with the delivery or all the messages, but it appears to me there are those who would rather see religion fall by the wayside. I've heard many people this week say that their opponents engage in "hate speech." Hmmm.


All photos by Jim Myers/The Colorado Catholic Herald