INTRODUCTION

Whether or not Ted Strickland is a Christian is NOT the issue because the US Constitution forbids a religious test for holding public office.   However, since Ted Strickland says his faith helps guide his public policy decisions it is fair game to investigate those positions in light of what the Bible teaches. The following are comparisons between Ted Strickland's votes, positions, and statements and the Bible.  This analysis is not meant to be exhaustive or comprehensive. Much more could be written on each of these subjects. However, for the purpose of this website it is our intention to focus solely on the clear teaching of scripture as it speaks to Ted Strickland's public policy positions.

ISSUE 1: ABORTION

THE BIBLE: Opposes Abortion

• "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13)
• "You did form my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb." (Psalm 139:13)

TED STRICKLAND: Supports Abortion

• Voted for abortion on demand in overseas military medical facilities

• Voted for an amendment to U.S. law to permit funding of organizations that support coerced abortion (in China for example)

• Voted against the unborn victims of violence act (which permits federal prosecution of those who cause injury to an unborn child)

• Voted against an act that would excuse health care professionals from being a part of an abortion

• Voted for abortion funding in federal prisons

• Voted against President Bush's "Mexico City Policy" which denies eligibility for U.S. aid to any organization that promotes abortion in foreign nations

STRICKLAND QUOTES:

"I am pleased to be able to work with NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio to enhance access to reproductive health care services Ohioans need and deserve," Strickland said. "I would veto any legislation to further restrict access to reproductive health care including abortion." (From a Strickland press release posted on the Strickland for Governor Website)

"I believe in a woman's right to choose. I would veto any attempt to outlaw a woman's right to choose if Roe v. Wade were overturned. I believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. And, in Congress, I have supported middle-ground legislation on this subject." ("Open Mike," Cleveland.com 3/3/06)

ISSUE 2: HUMAN CLONING

THE BIBLE: Opposes Human Cloning

• Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness ..." (Gen. 1:26)
• "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)

TED STRICKLAND: Supports Human Cloning

• Voted against federal legislation to prohibit the cloning of human beings

• Voted for destructive embryonic stem cell research (scientists often need to clone human embryos in order to kill them for their stem cells).

ISSUE 3: HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

THE BIBLE: Opposes Homosexual Unions

• "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife." (Genesis 2:24)
• "In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Rom. 1:27)
• "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22)

TED STRICKLAND: Supports Homosexual Unions

• Voted against the bill proposing a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting homosexual marriages

• Voted against an amendment prohibiting the extension of government benefits to unmarried domestic partners

STRICKLAND QUOTE:

Strickland favors gay civil unions which confer on gay couples the same benefits and privileges as traditional marriage. "This is an evolving situation," said Strickland, who believes it is only a matter of time before gay marriage is widely recognized. "I absolutely believe that adults should be able to enter into legal relationships which give them the legal rights and privileges that are usually associated with the marriage relationship," he said. (Paul M. Krawzak, Copley News Service, 7/14/04)

ISSUE 4: PEDOPHILIA

THE BIBLE: Opposes Pedophilia

• "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:10).

TED STRICKLAND: Unclear on Pedophilia

• In 1999, Strickland voted ‘PRESENT' while 355 Members of the House vote YEA with zero NAYs to a Concurrent Resolution (H. Con. Res 107) expressing the sense of Congress rejecting the conclusions of a recent article published in the Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association, which suggests that sexual relationships between adults and children might be positive for children.

STRICKLAND QUOTE:

"As I indicated shortly after the vote, it troubles me that sometimes in Congress we stand and say things that we ought not to say. We criticize people that we have no right to criticize. My colleagues voted to condemn a scientific study and an organization, an organization that has done as much as any organization in this country to fight child abuse. I wonder how many of my colleagues read the study before we were willing to vote to say that the methodology was flawed. I wonder how many of us were technically competent to make that decision." (Strickland Statement -- House of Representatives - July 27, 1999) (Flannery for Governor Website)

ISSUE 5: AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

THE BIBLE: Supports nation's having a Christian heritage

• "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." (Psalm 33:12)

• "And you shall teach these words which I am commanding you today to your sons and shall talk of them when you walk by the way...and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand...and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

TED STRICKLAND: Opposes the recognition of America's Christian heritage.

• Voted against an amendment to permit display of the 10 Commandments on the lawn of an Indiana courthouse

• Voted against legislation to protect the phase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance

• Voted against the Religious Freedom Constitutional Amendment which would have recognized the right of citizens to pray on public property

STRICKLAND QUOTE:

"No, I don't think America was founded as a Christian nation." (The Columbus Dispatch, "Church and Statehouse" 7/23/06 [subscription required])

ISSUE 6: GAMBLING

THE BIBLE: The Bible does not specifically condemn gambling. The Bible does warn us, however, to stay away from the love of money.

• "Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. (Proverbs 13:11)

• "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:10)

TED STRICKLAND: Unclear on gambling

STRICKLAND QUOTES:

"I am not one of those individuals who has some moral objection to gambling as an adult activity,' said Strickland, a former United Methodist minister. ‘I believe adults have the right to spend their entertainment dollars as they choose to do."

(Joe Hallett & Mark Niquett, "Strickland Offers a Different Take On Casino Gambling" The Columbus Dispatch, 1/6/06 [subscription required])

"State-sponsored gambling in Ohio is bad public policy, bad economic policy, bad social policy, bad policy period." (Associated Press, 3/24/06)

In an interview this week with Plain Dealer editors, the Lisbon congressman said it is "more likely than not that I am not going to be supportive" of a proposal to allow two casinos to be built in downtown Cleveland and slot machines to be installed in all seven Ohio racetracks." (Brent Larkin, Plain Dealer, 3/23/06)

ISSUE 7: INTELLIGENT DESIGN

THE BIBLE: Supports Intelligent Design

• "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen. 1:1)

TED STRICKLAND: Opposes the teaching of Intelligent Design in science classes

STRICKLAND QUOTE:

"Intelligent design should not be taught as science. ... It is based on faith, and that's fine. For a person to embrace such a belief is their choice, but I do not believe it should be taught as a science." (Columbus Dispatch, "Church and Statehouse," 7/23/06 [subscription required])