Prager: In Politics Values Matter, Not Theology

http://dennisprager.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2007/12/11/in_politics_values_matter,_not_theology

Or take Judeo-Christian values. I have written 24 columns explicating the meaning of Judeo-Christian values, yet never once used the term "Judeo-Christian theology" because there isn't a Judeo-Christian theology. Judaism and Christianity differ on most of the major beliefs of Christianity -- the Trinity, the place of Jesus, whether the Messiah has come, the nature of salvation, and more. But they share almost every important social and moral value. Once again,the relationship between shared theology and shared values is next to nil.

Therefore the theological beliefs of a public figure should matter only when one is choosing a theological leader, never a political leader -- unless those beliefs form the basis of social and moral values that one abhors. It is very important to know the theological beliefs of one's clergyman or the head of one's seminary, but as far as the head of one's country is concerned, only his moral and social values matter. I would much sooner vote for an agnostic whose values I shared than for a believing Christian or Jew whose values I did not share.