[Mb-civic] Role of Religion Emerges as Issue - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Role of Religion Emerges as Issue

By Peter Baker and Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page A08

President Bush said yesterday that it was appropriate for the White 
House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's religion in making 
the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over 
what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation 
battle.

Bush said religion is part of Miers's overall background much like her 
work as a corporate lawyer in Texas, and that "our outreach program has 
been just to explain the facts to people." At the same time, his 
attorney general went on television and described Miers as "pro-life." 
But the White House said her religious and personal views would not 
affect her ability to serve as a neutral justice.

"People ask me why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said in response to a 
reporter's question at an Oval Office appearance with Polish President 
Aleksander Kwasniewski. "They want to know Harriet Miers's background. 
They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form 
opinions. And part of Harriet Miers's life is her religion."

The issue was stoked by James C. Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, 
who recounted on a radio show taped Tuesday and aired yesterday that 
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove raised religion in a private 
conversation to assure him of Miers's conservative bona fides. According 
to Dobson, Rove told him two days before Bush announced the nomination 
"that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian [and] that she is from a 
very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life."

Citing Rove, Dobson also revealed that the president chose Miers after 
other candidates withdrew. White House press secretary Scott McClellan 
confirmed yesterday that "a couple" of potential nominees asked not to 
be considered because of "the ordeal of going through the confirmation 
process." McClellan declined to identify those who withdrew. Dobson said 
Rove told him the president had decided to nominate a woman, which 
narrowed the list even before the withdrawals.

Liberals jumped on Dobson's comments to accuse the White House of 
imposing a religious litmus test, or of invoking faith to signal to 
conservatives that Miers would rule as they wish on such questions as 
restricting abortion rights. Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the 
American Way, noted that conservatives complained when anyone questioned 
the influence of faith during the recent confirmation of Chief Justice 
John G. Roberts Jr.

"It's hypocrisy doubled and quadrupled," Neas said. "What's wrong for 
John Roberts can't be right for Harriet Miers. . . . The president and 
his people are using repeated assurances about Miers's religion to send 
not-so-subtle messages about how she might rule on the court on issues 
important to the president's political supporters."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201381.html
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