I have a firm belief that, as a whole, politicians are like car salesmen. They'll tell you anything to make the sale. In the case of the politician, the "sale" of course is your vote. In that vein, I read recently that something like 75% of all Republican senators actually believe(or at least, they say they do) that the earth was created only 12,000 years ago. Now, I understand that some Bible literalists believe that, but I know a number of intelligent Christians who honestly understand that the Bible is metaphorical and not to be taken literally-word-for-word. Still, the overwhelming majority of Republican senators hold to this ridiculous belief. And, why is this? Why, for your vote, of course.
Whether or not one believes in the evolution theory, anyone with even a modicum of sense understands that the Bible is written as a metaphor. Unfortunately, a large percentage of hard-core religious, right-wingers aren't blessed with a lot of sense. They will sit and tell you that every last word of the Bible is true. Now, I don't know how familiar many of you are with the Bible. I've read a pretty large percentage of it, myself. Every word in the Bible can't be true, because the Bible contradicts itself all over the place. But, that's beside the point. Anyone who has read the scientific evidence knows the earth has been around in the tens of millions of years. Intelligent Republican senators have to understand this, but they'd rather err on the side of caution knowing the overwhelming majority of their constituency are Bible literalists. So, they say the right things to get the vote.
Now, those of us who have read the constitution and believe in it know that, in reality, religion should have no role in the political world. The first amendment, in fact, states specifically that there is no national religion. Therefore, in theory, an atheist or a Jew or a Muslim should be able to get elected. I suppose there are even a few of all of these in office. Joe Lieberman comes to mind. But, you tend to find that those who are not "mainstream" Christians don't go out of their way to mention their faith (or, lack thereof). There's a reason for this. They want to get elected. America will have finally hit its ideal when a politician can openly state that he is an atheist, but this is how he views the issues. If his views are reasonable and intelligent, he gets elected. But, we haven't evolved that far, as yet. I don't know a politician who openly claims to be an atheist. Who knows? It may never happen.
So, what is the role of faith in politics? Well, in theory, religion or "faith" should play absolutely no role in politics whatsoever. Unless, of course, you want to get elected.