he presidential candidates have been wrapping themselves in many-colored dreamcoats of personal piety on the campaign trail, claiming to be imbued with religious faith. But a group of activist clergy from the full spectrum of beliefs is beginning to call their bluff.
''Ironically, perhaps, the faith community is asking for less religious talk,'' says the Rev. John Heinemeier, pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Roxbury. ''We're asking, where is the action that backs up the piety?''
Heinemeier is a member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, a community organizing project started with the aid of the national Industrial Areas Foundation. The group - and some 65 others like it around the country - is turning belief into action, building low-income housing, pushing for a generous minimum wage, and working to redeem troubled public schools.
Locally, the foundation has been building for about two years into a force that is increasingly hard for candidates to ignore, though many have tried. Now its members want the candidates to start addressing a major unexamined issue of the presidential campaign - the growing gap between rich and poor at a time of the greatest economic expansion in the nation's history.
The interfaith group sees a ''double scarcity'' for the poor in America: lack of a living wage for honest work and lack of access to affordable housing, still the best way for families to accumulate equity - that is, wealth. What actions have the candidates taken toward eliminating those scarcities?
A good chance to raise - and answer - these questions will come Wednesday night at a debate among both the Democratic and Republican presidential contenders in Manchester, N.H. Sponsored by WMUR-TV, it is the only debate remaining before the New Hampshire primary Feb. 1.
All presidential candidates are masters of rhetoric. But words are not enough in the doctrines of many faiths. In the Bible story, Joseph is revered for using resources collected in years of plenty to prevent famine and want. Those who hope to lead the nation should do more than wear his coat.
