After documenting as much as I could about the presidential candidates’ religious views, as well as those of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, all I have left is Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The purpose of these pages is not to analyze what each candidate’s religious beliefs are, but only to document what they’ve actually said about religion. Hopefully, this eliminates a lot of the guessing and speculation.

As per usual, the following are actual quotes, followed by my personal analysis of the candidate’s religious beliefs and the possible effects of those beliefs being in elected office at the highest level. So the final installment for the 2008 election season is Senator Joe Biden.

See Sarah Palin’s profile here.

Joe Biden - Roman Catholic

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“Religion informs my values. My reason dictates outcomes. My religion taught me about abuse of power. That’s why I moved to write the Violence Against Women Act. That’s why I take the position I take on Darfur. It came about as a consequence of the reasoning that we’re able to do it. I don’t find anything inconsistent about my deep, religious beliefs and my ability to use reason.”

[Responding to question of whether hurricanes can be prevented with prayer]
“My mom has an expression. She says that, “God sends no cross you’re unable to bear.” The time to pray is when you’re told, as I was, that my wife and daughter are dead, to have the courage to be able to bear the cross. Pray that God can give you the strength to deal with what everyone is faced with in their life, serious crosses to bear. The answer to the question is, no, all the prayer in the world will not stop a hurricane. But prayer will give you the courage to be able to respond to the devastation that’s caused in your life and with others to deal with the devastation.”

Source

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On abortion:

“They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life — I’m prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception.

Source

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“I’m a practicing Catholic, and it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my religious and cultural views with my political responsibility.”

“The next Republican that tells me I’m not religious, I’m going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.”

Source

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“The next Democrat, whether it’s me or Sen. Clinton or John Kerry, whomever — the Democratic nominee — they’d better be able to ante up right in front of the American people two things: security and faith.”

[On believers from other faiths]
“They just want to know we respect them,” he said. “If we can’t negotiate the faith issue, forget it, we won’t win.”

Source

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“The animating principle of my faith, as taught to me by church and home, was that the cardinal sin was abuse of power. It was not only required as a good Catholic to abhor and avoid abuse of power, but to do something to end that abuse.”

“I get comfort from carrying my rosary, going to mass every Sunday. It’s my time alone.”

“My idea of self, of family, of community, of the wider world comes straight from my religion. It’s not so much the Bible, the beatitudes, the Ten Commandments, the sacraments, or the prayers I learned. It’s the culture.”

Source

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[On his wife's passing]
“I never doubted that there was a God, but I was angry with God,” he says. “I was very self-centered: How could God do this to me?”

“I don’t think I have the right to impose my view – on something I accept as a matter of faith – on the rest of society.”

“If I were an ordained priest, I’d be taking some issue with some of the more narrow interpretations of the Gospel being taken now. But my church is more than 2,000 years old. There’s always been a tug of war among prelates and informed lay members.”

Source

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More on Biden’s religion:

Boston.com - Joe Biden’s Catholic Faith

Pew Forum - Religion, Violence and the Middle East: A Conversation with U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. (long transcript, mostly about relations with radical Islam)

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Summary:

Biden is a fine example of a religious man who understands the proper role of religion in government. He is a very religious person, and unapologetically Catholic, but keeps his faith relatively private. He’s not afraid to tell you about it, but he’s also not about to govern by it.

As I’ve said many times before, I have no problem with people being religious. I am an atheist, but I am not concerned with your faith. If my neighbors are Christians, why is that my business? That, to me, is the essence of religion in America. I believe it to be a private matter, and appreciate any elected official who governs that way. Biden is one of those.

You can agree or disagree with his political views, but when it comes to forming them, he is honest enough to form opinions politically, rather than by church beliefs.

I don’t agree with what Biden believes, but if he’s not going to use his religious beliefs to legislate my actions, then I have no problem with his views.

I can safely conclude that Joe Biden is not a threat to the separation of church and state in America.

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