Over the last eight years of his career, which included the Democratic vice-presidential nomination and an Independent victory in the Senate, many things have changed for Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
But one thing has remained constant: His faith. On Friday afternoon, Lieberman discussed the role of his faith to Fairfield students as part of the Center for Faith and Public Life’s “Politics and Faith” series. The event was co-sponsored by the Ham Channel, who filmed the discussion. Lieberman, a four-term Independent-Democratic U.S Senator from Stamford, spoke about how his Orthodox Jewish faith has helped him through his tumultuous experience in U.S. politics. “There have been times in which I questioned my faith,” he stated. “In college especially, I had moments in which I was skeptic.” Lieberman told a crowd of about a dozen student and media personnel in Xavier Hall’s Studio B that “faith gets you through the hard times.” When he ran for vice president as the first Jewish-American candidate, Lieberman said he found Americans to be religiously open-minded, as reinforced by his narrow loss in the final election. Ham Channel reporter Colleen Gibson asked how politics affected his religion and Lieberman humorously responded: “When I vote I don’t consult my rabbi. “There have been times that I had to tell my Democratic supporters that I could not make a fundraiser because it was on the Sabbath day.”
Click to see a previous Ham Channel interview with Lieberman .
In response to a student question on how his ties to Israel have been tested since taking office, Lieberman stated, “When I take an oath of office, on the Bible no less, I take that oath to America.” Though the students were the primary source of conversation and questions, one notable foe of Lieberman found himself in the audience. John Orman, Fairfield chair of politics and former democratic Senatorial candidate against Lieberman said, “I would have asked him how he would allow America to invade any country and did his faith let him down.” Rick Ryscavage, professor of sociology and anthropology and director for the Center of Faith and Public Life hosted the event and said “the series is improving the national model of how we talk about politics and faith.” Of the series, one student in attendance felt that the event achieved its goal in creating a dialogue for future political leaders and increasing their accessibility to student voices and concerns. “It is great because there are a lot of students interested in politics on campus, and events like this help us learn the way it relates to our lives,” said Brittney Borruso ’10.
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