FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, Oct 24 (AFP) - Prodded by political logic, Democratic White House hope John Kerry is shedding an inbred reluctance to showcase his faith, and using scripture to malign President George W. Bush, a born-again Methodist.
Kerry, a Roman Catholic, has reached out in the final weeks of his White House campaign, trying to ensure the political power of America's churches is not wielded disproportionately on behalf of his opponent.
"I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve," Kerry said during his acceptance speech at the Democratic Party convention in Boston in July.
But in the political lifetime that has since elapsed, Kerry has slowly opened up about faith, saying his grounding as a Catholic altar boy helped him through combat in Vietnam and guided his later life in politics.
His pulpit has often been an African American church in a contested state like Ohio or Florida, with homilies designed to broaden his appeal among the black community he is counting on to show up at the polls in large numbers.
"It is not enough, my brother, to say you have faith, when there are no deeds, faith without works is dead," Kerry said, preaching from the Book of St James at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio in early October.
The implication: Bush might sprinkle his speeches with religious allusions and play to his Christian conservative base, but has failed to match words with action on poverty, job losses and healthcare.
Kerry ended his lesson with the parable of the Good Samaritan, who stopped to help a robbed and beaten man after two other men walked by on the other side of the road.
"It is clear: for four years, George W. Bush may have talked about compassion, but he's walked right by. He's seen people in need, but he's crossed over to the other side of the street," Kerry said at Mount Zion.
Religion is highly influential in US politics, and the percentage of citizens who believe in God in the United States is higher than most other countries in the western world.
A Time magazine poll last June showed voters who described themselves as "very religious" supported Bush 59 percent to 35 percent for Kerry.
Kerry took another step on his public religious journey on Sunday at an African American church in Florida, and with another speech planned elsewhere in Florida on values.
His strategy has been heavily influenced by his opponent, who, as president, put religion at the forefront of his administration -- and, according to critics, allowed it to dictate policy.
Bush has presented his anti-terror campaign as a battle between good and evil, and doled out a billion dollars to faith-based social service groups, prompting some opponents to warn he has weakened the sacred separation of church and state in US politics.
With the White House race deadlocked just over a week before polling day, both Bush and Kerry are chasing every last vote, in every last voting block.
As a practising Catholic, it might seem Kerry should have a lock on that vote: not necessarily, since the veteran senator's faith and progressive politics have come into conflict over abortion and same-sex marriage.
Kerry supports a woman's legal right to have an abortion, but personally opposes the procedure. He is against gay marriage, but also against Republican plans for a constitutional ban on the marriage of same sex couples.
The US Catholic establishment has frowned on those stands, and has authorized priests to refuse giving communion to politicians who support abortion.
Bush sides with the hierarchy on both issues -- and earlier this year, met Pope John Paul II, further bolstering his standing among Catholics, though the pontiff's opposition to the Iraq war may have tempered resulting political gains.
A Pew institute poll released in mid-September showed 49 percent of Catholics favored Bush over Kerry, who had 42 percent of their support.
In the 2000 election, a majority of Catholics voted for Bush. In the last 20 years, Bill Clinton is the only Democrat to have won the Catholic vote, in his 1996 re-election campaign.
Democrats, sensitive to the Republican advantage among religious voters, last month launched a website, "KerrySharesOurValues.org", to highlight the convictions of Kerry and running mate John Edwards.
For his part, Bush, whose presidency has been more closely linked with his personal religious beliefs than any modern president, said in an interview to be broadcast Monday that he has actually tried to keep his faith private.
"My faith is a very personal matter and I am very mindful that a person in public life like me should never try to impose my religion on anybody," he told Fox News.
"One of the great things about America is that we can choose to be religious or not religious and be equally patriotic and if you choose to believe in the Almighty, you can be a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim and be equally American.
"That's the wonderful thing about our country," the president said.
10/24/2004 16:11 GMT - AFP