“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17

Last night in the last presidential debate, John Kerry quoted a portion of this passage more than once. What exactly was he trying to say? I assume he was trying to imply that Bush shouldn’t just talk about his faith, but rather he should put his faith into action. But the Democrats ciritcize Bush for acting on what he believes as a Christian. No, wait, Kerry said he would never impose his own Catholic faith on others, would never let it influence the way he acts
in regards to abortion or homosexuality. No, wait, I’m confused again because Kerry did say that his actions in the areas of environmental policy and anti-poverty programs were guided by his faith.
You figure it out. Key quotes from John Kerry:

What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn’t share that article of faith.

And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.

That’s why I fight against poverty. That’s why I fight to clean up the environment and protect this earth

So he can legislate Democrat-style anti-poverty programs, and he can try to pass laws that protect the environment because he’s being guided by his faith in those efforts. But he can’t try to protect unborn life or marriage between one man and one woman because he would be transferring his faith to other people. And Bush is the one who is confused about the relationship between religion and public policy?
With George W. Bush, what you see is what you get. If he believes something is right, he’ll try to get it done. You may not agree with him on issues, but at least he doesn’t try to draw some phony line between what he believes and what he he wants to do as president. At least, his faith isn’t dead. Key quote from Bush:

I never want to impose my religion on anybody else. But when I make decisions, I stand on principle, and the principles are derived from who I am. I believe we ought to love our neighbor like we love ourself, as manifested in public policy through the faith-based initiative where we’ve unleashed the armies of compassion to help heal people who hurt. I believe that God wants everybody to be free. That’s what I believe. And that’s been part of my foreign policy. In Afghanistan, I believe that the freedom there is a gift from the Almighty. And I can’t tell you how encouraged I am to see freedom on the march. And so my principles that I make decisions on are a part of me, and religion is a part of me.