Washington Times has an editorial today by Gustav Neibuhr about religious language slipping off the tongues of philandering Southern pols. I’ve always lived in the south, so I am NOT a good judge of this. It is what I know.
The novelist Flannery O’Connor famously wrote that the South, while not necessarily Christ-centered, was clearly “Christ-haunted.” The region’s politics naturally reflects its larger culture. There are many things that one can reasonably call Mark Sanford. Whether he is pandering or penitent we can’t know. But what’s clear is he has a certain facility with the “language of Zion,” as its called, and that’s a quality he shares with many of his Southern brethren and sister-en.
Attendance at churches and synagogues is higher down there than elsewhere; the Southeast is probably the last remaining part of the country where people actually expect you to have a religious affiliation. God-talk comes pretty naturally to many, so it shouldn’t be surprising that scandal-enmeshed politicians–Bill Clinton, David Vitter, John Edwards–should use it. At the very least, they’re trying to make a connection with their native audience.
So, is this really just a Southern thing?
Being from the Deep South (Louisiana) I have noticed a distinct difference between those politicians and those in West Virginia (distinctly Appalachian, not Southern) – God is rarely invoked.
It’s the reason you will see ‘religious adviser’ mentioned for politicians down South, and rarely so for our Yankee brethren in the North. You will also notice that biblical imagery drips from the lips of national politicians when running in the South. Religion forms a conscious community and unconscious foundation in the South.
Further, you will note that many politicians in the South will run to the religious adviser when he/she messes up.
I wish politicians wouldn’t use religi-speak for their own benefit. The info on the religious adviser is something I hadn’t picked up on before.
I knew as I was typing what Neibuhr said was true. Just another way for the South to shine I suppose . . . *cough*
I thought the South already shined! I am a Southerner, or Southron, if you will, and proud of it.
HA! Yes, the South IS shining in so very many ways . . .
Perhaps a new post *eyebrows raised*