VOA慢速英语--美国候选人讨论宗教信仰

AS IT IS 2016-02-14 US Candidates Talk about Faith, Religion 美国候选人讨论宗教信仰

Candidates for president are talking a lot about their religious beliefs.

Senator Ted¹ Cruz, a Texas Republican, recently asked New Hampshire supporters “to commit to lift this country up in prayer each and every day from now until the election.”

Cruz is a Southern Baptist.

And when Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, was asked recently about fixing America’s problems, he, too, spoke² about religion.

“There’s only one savior, and it’s not me,” Rubio said. “It’s Jesus Christ who came down to Earth and died for our sins.”

Rubio is Catholic.

Businessman Donald Trump³, another Republican presidential candidate, recently put up a video on Facebook showing the Bible his late mother had given him.

“It's just very special to me,” Trump said.

Candidates talking about how religious beliefs will guide them is a big change from 1960. That year, Democrat⁴ John Kennedy won the presidency⁵ after telling voters his Catholic religion would not affect his decisions as president.

American democracy was founded on freedom for individuals to speak, write and worship as they like. “Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together,” wrote James Madison, 4th president of the United States.

Robert Schmuhl, a professor of American Studies at Notre Dame⁶ University said: “Today we see candidates stressing their religious beliefs as part of their campaigns.”

A report last month by the Pew Research Center might explain why.

Pew found that 51 percent of Americans say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who does not believe in God. Not believing in God is viewed by voters as worse than having a relationship outside of marriage, Pew said.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were asked about their religious views during a town hall meeting last week in New Hampshire.

All the Republican presidential candidates are Christians⁸, as is Clinton. Sanders is Jewish.

Sanders does not often talk about religion. He has said he is not active in any organized religion.

But at meeting with New Hampshire voters, he said, “I would not be running for president of the United States if I did not have very strong religious and spiritual feelings.” He said his faith makes him care deeply about people who do not earn enough to afford college, health care or feed their families.

At the same meeting, Clinton was asked how she finds balance in her life. The question came from a rabbi, who said a president must balance confidence with wisdom.

Clinton said her Methodist faith and help from clergy⁹ keeps her balanced.

“I get a scripture¹⁰ lesson every morning from a minister that I have a really close personal relationship with. And, you know, it just gets me grounded,” Clinton said.

Sanders won Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic primary by a large margin¹¹ over Clinton.

In New Hampshire’s Republican primary, Trump won twice as many votes as his nearest opponent, Ohio Governor John Kasich. Cruz, who won the Iowa caucus¹² the week before, finished third in New Hampshire. Rubio, who finished third in Iowa, finished fifth in New Hampshire.

Cruz and Rubio talk about their Christian⁷ beliefs more than most other candidates.

One reason they did not do as well in New Hampshire as in Iowa: Thirty nine percent of Iowa voters say they are very religious, compared to only 20 percent in New Hampshire.  This information comes from a study last week by the Gallup organization.

Not everyone is happy with all the religious talk in the 2016 presidential race.

“Are Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio running for president or pastor¹³?” asked writer Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune.

Chapman said the United States Constitution requires separation of church and state, and the government should not be guided by religion.

At the annual National Prayer Breakfast last week, President Barack Obama said people of faith should “respect the right of every single American to practice their religion.” Obama attends prayer services led by a Southern Baptist pastor.

Obama has criticized Donald Trump over Trump’s views about Islam. Trump said he would stop Muslims from migrating to the U.S. because he fears they would bring terrorism.

Words in This Story

commit – v. to make (someone or something) obligated to do something

savior – n. coming to the rescue

sin – n. an action that is considered to be wrong according to religious or moral law

Bible – n. a book of sacred writings. Christians use the New Testament¹⁴. Jews use the Old Testament.

stress – v. special importance or attention that is given to something

rabbi – n. spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation

scripture – n. the books of either the Old Testament or the New Testament or of both

lesson – n. an activity that you do in order to learn something

caucus – n. a meeting of members of a political party for the purpose of choosing candidates for an election

pastor – n. a minister or priest in charge of a church or parish

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

10 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

13 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

14 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。