If talking about UFOs or constipation would get votes, then presidential candidates Bush, Gore, Cheney, and Lieberman would be flaunting this tactic. Instead, the 2000 campaign is firing away with in-your-face religious/God rhetoric to obtain votes. So omnipresent is this rhetoric that the Anti-Defamation League, whose focus is fighting anti-Semitism, has written Joseph Lieberman to urge him to curb expression of religiosity in his campaigning. Examples of his rhetoric are: "I stand before you today as a witness to the goodness of God," and "As a people, we need to reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and God's purposes."

Al Gore's rhetoric is that he supports "faith-based partnerships," which includes involving sectarian groups. Referring to gang violence and deteriorating social conditions among inner-city youth, he said, "Those who are quick to feel disrespected often have a spiritual vacuum in their lives, because they feel disconnected to the love of their Father in Heaven."

Said George Bush, "We should promote these private and faith-based efforts because they work," promising to dedicate $8 billion to such groups in the first year of his presidency through a program of tax rebates and direct grants.

Of course, religion, like any other institution such as education, marriage, or profession, has potential to benefit our growth and development. However, to imply or explicitly state that without religious boundaries, we are an ethically and morally corrupt nation, is an erroneous argument.

The bogus logic of this religious campaigning can be summarized in this syllogism: religions are good, people are religious, therefore, religious people are good. However, reality is: good people are not all religious, and religious people are not all good. "Good," for the purpose of this piece, is defined as practicing ethical and moral values.

For instance, Presidents Bill Clinton and John Kennedy's sexual infidelities poke a hole in the syllogism. Religion did not save them. Newt Gingrich, Jimmy Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart spouted the same religious rhetoric while committing public hypocrisy. Prisons house the largest percent of God believers, children cheat more often in parochial schools than in public schools, and religious crusades and ethnic cleansings are products of both dogmatic believers and dogmatic nonbelievers (Gordon Gamm, Colorado Humanist, Jan./Feb. 2000).

Naturally, it goes without saying the converse also applies: some religious people are good, and some good people are religious.

Whatever the source, people practice ethical and moral values most genuinely when these are internalized, which means we act "good" no matter where we are, who is watching us, and what tempts us to act otherwise. Anything less is less, less meaning we "act for the wrong reason," less meaning we act from fear of after-death hell and damnation, or fear of imprisonment, or fear of what others think about us. At the same time, acting for the wrong reason is not necessarily all negative if these acts benefit self, loved ones, co-workers, and community at large.

That said, some people require rules, policies, laws, and religions to keep them honest and responsible. If "artificial" societal, political, and religious barriers or boundaries did not exist, some of us would more easily succumb to deceiving, manipulating, lying, cheating, stealing, abusing, and so on. Without established, organized, penalizing courses of conduct, "higher principles" or "laws of the spirit" are mere terms belonging to fantasy novels and Hallmark cards.

Religion often seems to be no respecter of certain decisions. Driving above the speed limit is probably one of the most frequently broken laws, as well as driving through red lights and changing lanes in an intersection. Without "no-noise" ordinances, more of us would be hiking music up to Nine-Inch Nails concert volume all night long or allowing a dog to bark at 3 a.m. We would more likely jay walk, park in front of people's driveways, park in spaces allotted for the handicap, and litter like children.

When faced with these commonplace, but less clear-cut situations, the religious and non-religious may act no differently. 1) A store clerk gives you too much change. 2) A credit card company makes a mistake in your favor. 3) A dinner was not charged in your restaurant bill. 4) You can take full credit for a project although others did the work. 5) A co-worker discloses a terrific idea that you can pirate. 6) You did not follow through on an assignment or promise, but can blame it on someone else. 7) Someone calls with whom you do not wish to talk, and you can ask your child to say you're not home.

Whether religious or non-religious, people often feel worse about getting caught and getting penalized than committing the immoral or unethical deed.

Despite Utah being one of the most church-going states in the U.S., recent United Way (UW) data casts stones upon our perceived, squeaky clean state (August 29, 2000: KSL-TV). For example, as many as 4,000 are homeless in the greater Salt Lake area, and 28,051 children live in poverty (defined in 1998 as a family of four earning $16,530 or less). At least 50,000 Salt Lake County residents over age 12 are considered substance abusers. One in eight Utah women experiences physical abuse, one in three endures emotional abuse in a relationship, and one in three suffers sexual abuse before age eighteen. The crowning figure that religious Utah is not all good is that child sexual abuse here is double the national average.

These damning statistics of our perceived "happy valley" Utah refute, at least in part, the campaign rhetoric implying that religious people have a monopoly on ethical and moral behavior. Hopefully, a new rhetoric will spawn where a colleague or neighbor can say he is non-religious or atheist, and you won't hear, "Oh, he couldn't be. He's too good a person." With 26 million non-religious Americans, a lot is riding on the do-the-right-thing internalization tread where temptation does not split apart conscience and character.

--Sarah Smith
This article was also published by the Salt Lake Tribune on September 24, 2000.