In the pilot episode of The West Wing, the White House staff is faced with a few political issues, including an out of line comment made by Josh, the Deputy Chief of Staff, to a representative of a religious political group. The comment was made as a joke but was nonetheless insulting to the religious right. The President took the incident very seriously and was considering firing Josh over it. This was probably the most pressing political issue the President had to deal with in the episode.
Most Americans assume that views expressed by individual members of the White House staff are views that are shared among all of them. This is probably why the comment Josh made was such a huge controversy. If the White House administration lost the support of the religious right, it could affect the nation’s view of the administration, which could in turn affect the President’s approval rating.
The controversy also brings up the issue of separation of church and state. The religious right is pushing the White House administration to comply with “Christian family values.” Even though the government has no obligation to do so, they are still forced to cooperate with the members of the religious political group in order to avoid public relations issues. In the last scene of the episode, Josh, Toby, and CJ have a meeting with Mary Marsh and the Reverend in order to try to correct Josh’s public faux pas. Mary Marsh and her group make it clear that they have no regard for separation of church and state especially when one of them asks why there is so much talk of the first amendment and none of the first commandment. The meeting then turns into a heated argument and is over before any decisions are made, and accomplishes nothing in the end.
If it complies with Xtian family values, then would it be compelled to comply with Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist values as well?
ReplyDeleteYou might think about why the religious right has such a strong influence on politics in America?