Rep. Harris' Comments on Religion Draw Ire

AOL.com ^ | 08/27/06

[MikeA]

MIAMI (Aug. 26) - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws."

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage.

Harris made the comments - which she clarified Saturday - in the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, which interviewed political candidates and asked them about religion and their positions on issues.

Separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told," Harris said in the interview, published Thursday, saying separating religion and politics is "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers."

"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris said.

Her comments drew criticism, including some from fellow Republicans who called them offensive and not representative of the party.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who is Jewish, told the Orlando Sentinel that she was "disgusted" by the comments.

Harris' campaign released a statement Saturday saying she had been "speaking to a Christian audience, addressing a common misperception that people of faith should not be actively involved in government."

The comments reflected "her deep grounding in Judeo-Christian values," the statement said, adding that Harris had previously supported pro-Israel legislation and legislation recognizing the Holocaust.

Harris' opponents in the GOP primary also gave interviews to the Florida Baptist Witness but made more general statements on their faith.

Harris, 49, faced widespread criticism for her role overseeing the 2000 presidential recount as Florida's secretary of state.

State GOP leaders - including Gov. Jeb Bush - don't think she can win against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November. Fundraising has lagged, frustrated campaign workers have defected in droves and the issues have been overshadowed by news of her dealings with a corrupt defense contractor who gave her $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions.

[MikeA]

While I don't necessarily disagree with the idea that the Establishment Clause has been badly misinterpreted to mean the muzzling of all free religious expression in a government setting and it was never intended in the least to mean God and prayer and expressions of faith are to be banned from government venues, Harris could have been a little more circumspect and nuanced in her expression of this idea instead of shooting from the hip. There's an intelligent way to have handled this like saying "I don't believe the Founders ever meant the Establishment Clause to be a muzzle on religious free speech" or by even pointing out it was merely a construct to prevent the establishment of a state religion. But Harris is showing herself more and more incapable of being an effective politician who thinks before she speaks.

For all the Freepers who screamed about Rove and the White House wanting to keep Harris out of this race, we see now they weren't far wrong. This seat could have been an easy pick up with the do-nothing empty suit Bill Nelson as the Democratic candidate. Instead because Harris keeps making one gaffe after another, Nelson can spend the fall vacationing in the Bahamas and still win this race. Harris is doing his job for him. What a shame and what a waste of a prime pick up opportunity the GOP really needed this cycle.

[goldstategop]

She says what she believes is true. Perhaps that makes her a political liability. I can see why we wouldn't want people of principle in public life. You stand up for absolute right and wrong, you offend too many people. Better just pander and be all things to all people.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[oolatec]

It's not about pandering. It's about the Constitution. She's an idiot.

[MikeA]

It's not about pandering, it's about knowing how to put things a little more delicately than "God picks our leaders." Crimeny, I'm an active Christian but that sounds just more than a little nutty to mean. Am I suppose to believe God picked Bill Clinton to be president?

One can be passionate and give expression to their beliefs without being bombastic or foolish. There's an intelligent way to express one's self and there's a bull in the china shop approach. And when you're running for public office and needing to appeal to the broadest range of voters possible, then you need to learn how to tone down your rhetoric a bit. That doesn't rob you of your beliefs. It just means you're a person who realizes that diahhrea of the mouth isn't going to get you anywhere in politics. If she wants to talk like this then go be a TV preacher. But a politician running for office needs to show a little more wisdom and good judgment than this.

[MikefromOhio]

Isn't this like the 7th thread on this subject?

[MikeA]

And by the way, part of being a good leader in my mind means knowing how to express one's beliefs without coming off as a bufoon. Apparently Harris is incapable of that. You do yourself no good expressing your passions in such a way as to subject them to mockery and scourn.

[MikeA]

I did a search with the article title before posting and nothing came up. I guess Free Republic needs to develop a better search algorythm.

[RoadTest]

"It's not about pandering. It's about the Constitution. She's an idiot."

No she isn't. She's right about everything she says and The Constitution says nothing about separating church and state.

[MikefromOhio]

There was a minor difference in title, but it's the same story...


[Katherine]Harris' religion comments draw fire

[gcruse]

Whether she's right or wrong, she's certainly sank her chances.

[MikeA]

I think her chances were sunk before this. Now they're buried beneath the floor of the ocean.

[MikeA]

Go figure. Nothing came up. Maybe I left a space at the beginning of the title, who knows?

[freedumb2003]

Duplicate post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1690876/posts

[MikefromOhio]

Could've been the brackets I guess.....

[Rawlings]

Ping!

That's it. She overstated something a lot of (most?) freepers probably agree upon. Religion is far to relegated to the back porch in politics. But that doesn't mean that theocracy is the proper response. We need people of faith who aren't afraid to articulate their faith and passion for God. In Florida all the more so. But she went over the top and I only hope she loses her primary. Maybe this seat is salvagable.

[brytlea]

Rather than calling her an idiot, why not give us a learned dissertation on why you disagree with her opinion....
susie

[brytlea]

While I would probably not have said that either, the Bible does say that God puts governments in place, so yeah, I guess for some reason I don't understand He put Bill Clinton in place too.
susie

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Harris could have been a little more circumspect and nuanced in her expression of this idea instead of shooting from the hip.

I disagree. I find her candor refreshing and I don't think she should back pedal one step.

[Non-Sequitur]

Rather than calling her an idiot, why not give us a learned dissertation on why you disagree with her opinion....

When she says "...if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage" means that she has dumped all over Jews and anyone else that doesn't fit her narrow view of Christianity. Deliberately insulting large segments of the population is only one of the uncountable reasons why Harris will be out of politics come January.

[MikeA]

There's nothing wrong with expressing one's faith, I agree. And were that we had more people of faith in governance like Bush, Lieberman, etc. rather than so many of these secular slobs on the left.

I think President Bush has struck a good balance with showing himself to be a man of faith but without being over-the-top with it, although to listen to the MSM's hysterical caricaturing of his religious devotion you'd think the man was the Christian version of an Iranian mullah. But in fact the president is quite muted about his faith, only bringing it up during appropriate moments and most often when being baited by some media punk to try to make him appear to be some sort of religious fanatic. And when he does so it's done in a very appropriate and respectful way. But clearly the president has good judgment about when and how to express his religious faith. I could never imagine him expressing it as sloppily and recklessly as Harris did.