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NEWS FEATURE:
John Edwards and Religion
July 9, 2004 Episode no. 745
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BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: The Democratic ticket was completed this week, when John Kerry picked North Carolina Senator John Edwards as his vice-presidential running mate. Kerry, of course, is a Roman Catholic. Like President Bush and Vice President Cheney, John Edwards is a United Methodist. Kim Lawton has more on Edwards and religion.
KIM LAWTON: Senator John Kerry says he has selected a running mate who understands the values of America.
Senator JOHN KERRY (D-MA, at Announcement): I know his strength; I know his conscience; I know his faith.
LAWTON: John Edwards was raised and baptized in a Southern Baptist church. But in a December interview with the Interfaith Alliance, Edwards said he fell away from religion during college and law school. Then, a family tragedy changed that.
Senator JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC, to Interfaith Alliance): And I lost a son in 1996, and my faith came roaring back. And it played an enormous role in my ability to get through that period, and it stayed with me and has been enormously important.
LAWTON: Edwards became a United Methodist and is a member of the Edenton Street Methodist Church in Raleigh, where he was also on the board of the faith-based Urban Ministries of Wake County. In Washington, he has attended the more liberal Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church.
Sen. EDWARDS: Let us pray.
LAWTON: Edwards has also co-chaired the heavily evangelical National Prayer Breakfast, where he led a prayer in 2002.
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Sen. EDWARDS (at 2002 National Prayer Breakfast): We seek to be the leaders you would have us to be, and we sorely need your unsearchable wisdom. We pray each day, O Lord, that you inform our judgments with your wisdom, your humility, your benevolence.
LAWTON: Experts say Edwards brings religious balance to the Democratic ticket.
Dr. SHAUN CASEY (Professor of Christian Ethics, Wesley Theological Seminary): He's from a mainline Protestant denomination. He's Southern, and in that sense, he has perhaps a better ear for evangelical religion because he's simply a child of the South. He knows the rhythms and the cadences of Southern religion, which is something Kerry himself really doesn't possess.
LAWTON: Edwards says his faith holds great meaning for him, but observers note he doesn't give a lot of details.
Dr. CASEY: There seems to be a reticence on his part to delve too deeply into his own personal faith and the connection between his faith and his political views.
Sen. EDWARDS (to the Interfaith Alliance): I mean, over the long term, our country, our nation, will be much better off if we make it clear that we are a nation that lifts up and embraces all faiths, and we will not use faith for political purposes.
LAWTON: In his speeches, Edwards plans to emphasize values. The Kerry campaign says the vice-presidential candidate will be speaking "to the heart of America."
I'm Kim Lawton in Washington.
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Related Links:
Pew Forum on Religion & Ethics Life: "Edwards' Faith Likely to be a Critical Matter in S.C. Primary" by Kevin Begos, Winston-Salem Journal, May 5, 2003
San Jose Mercury News: "Kerry, after choosing Edwards, calls for faith in action" by Mike Smith, AP, July 6, 2004
Interfaith Alliance: One Nation Many Faiths Vote 2004: In Their Own Words: Senator John Edwards
Beliefnet: "John Edwards on religion"
Edenton Street United Methodist Church, Raleigh, NC
Urban Ministries of Wake County
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