God and the Ballot Box

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Reminding his audience that he was a minister's son and that his father-in-law is also a minister, Mondale said: "I have never thought it proper for political leaders to use religion to partisan advantage by advertising their own faith and questioning their opponent's. But the issue must be joined. Religion, Mr. Reagan told a prayer breakfast in Dallas, needs defenders against those who care only for the interests of the state. His clear implication was that he welcomed such a role for himself. The Queen of England, where state religion is established, is called the Defender of the Faith. But the President of the United States is the defender of the Constitution, which defends all faiths."

Mondale appeared tired and read his 25-min. speech in a lackluster singsong. ("The speech was typed better than it was read," groaned one of his supporters.) Nevertheless, the force and eloquence of the language prompted his obviously sympathetic audience to interrupt him with 24 ovations. The speech struck hard and often at Reagan's remark about intolerance. "B'nai B'rith is opposed to Mr. Reagan's [school-prayer] amendment; I would not call you intolerant of religion," said Mondale. "Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and other church groups also oppose his amendment. And they are also not intolerant of religion ... Instead of construing dissent from him in good faith, Mr. Reagan has insulted the motives of those who disagree with him−including me."

Mondale had decided to confront Reagan's blend of politics and religion after becoming angered by the Laxalt letter and the partisan appeal to religious value that he saw as he watched the Republican Convention on television from his home in North Oaks, Minn. He asked about two dozen scholars and theologians to contribute ideas for a speech on the subject, and he conferred by telephone with New York Governor Mario Cuomo, a Roman Catholic who has done much soul searching on church-state issues. In daily sessions with Chief Speechwriter Martin Kaplan, Mondale reviewed ten drafts before he was satisfied with the speech as a definitive statement of his position and a sufficiently strong challenge to Reagan. As one senior aide put it, "He decided to lay down his marker."

It was a marker that Reagan loftily ignored when he moved to the same B'nai B'rith podium. Seeking to appear above the battle, the President devoted half of his address to his record, emphasizing improvements in the economy, support for Israel and heightened respect for the U.S. among other nations. He spoke of a "new spiritual awareness" in the U.S., saying, "As we welcome this rebirth of faith, we must even more fervently attack ugly intolerance. We have no place for haters in America." He added: "As Americans of different religions find new meaningfulness in their beliefs, we do so together−returning together to the bedrock values of family, hard work and faith in the same loving and almighty God."