November 26, 2007

  • Religion and Politics

    I was reading an interesting article by Peggy Noonan.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    In the article, she was expressing her concern that politicians have been placed in a position where they not only have to say what their faith is but even explain it.  Her concern is that we are expecting our politicians to be Bible study teachers.  Here is the link:  Link  In reading her article, I would guess that she would prefer to not even hear what religion a candidate holds to.

    Do you want to know what religion a presidential candidate is before you vote for him/her?

                                                                  

Comments (142)

  • No, I just want to know that it won’t affect his policy.

  • (gasp)
    Where is everyone?

  • Happy birthday!

    And I agree with la_faerie_joyeuse. I don’t care, just don’t let your religion affect your policy.

  • Yeah.  Obviously, I am going to want to vote for someone who thinks along the same lines I do.
     
     
     
     
     
    Happy Birthday!!!

  • I would much rather know his or her approach to OTHER religions – for instance, I don’t find it a good sign if a candidate (or his backers, *coughpatrobertsoncough* think Islam is an evil, dangerous religion. Our president needs to be able to interact with other leaders and form foreign policy on a basis of some understanding of their perspective.

    I do pay attention to religious backgrounds though, because they can tell a lot about a person, but it’s definitely not the most important factor for me. I think the obsession with the religion of presidential candidates can be very limiting.  

  • It doesn’t make that much difference to me unless they’re a satanist or something else that might be destructive in someway. 

    However, I hope some day for the US to have a Jewish president.

  • I don’t really care, as long as they aren’t in some crazy cult or something. 

  • Yes, since it will impact on any decisions that he or she will make in the future. 

  • Happy birthday! The thing that should matter most for the candidate is the issues they raise and how he/she stands to tackle it.

  • Happy Birthday to you, Dan and many blessings this coming year!

    I usually don’t know what church a Presidential Candidate goes to, but I do want to know if they are a Christian….

    Have a great day!

    Connie

  • Happy Birthday……though thirty-six is still young.  Just wait until you start your fifties…..much different feel to those birthdays!

  • Happy birthday.

    I would want to know where they stand in their religious beliefs but that is not the only thing that would determine how I vote.

  • I don’t care, as long as his/her religion won’t affect his policy, and as long as he isn’t dogmatic and intolerant towards other religions.

  • happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. happy birthday dear Dan…
    wait, what? 108? what the hell? who thinks about that shit? jeez. meh.
    oh well. hope you have a great birthday anyway! er, i made you a card, but it was retarded. so i kept it to myself. here’s a mini instead.

  • Oooh, I agree with the editorialist:

    “There are some people who believe faith doesn’t belong in politics. But it does, and it is there inextricably. The antislavery movement, the temperance movement, the civil rights movement, the antiabortion movement, all were political movements animated in large part by religious feeling. It’s not that it doesn’t matter. You bring your whole self into the polling booth, including your faith and your sense of right and wrong, good and bad, just as presidents bring their whole selves into the Oval Office. I can’t imagine how a president could do his job without faith.

    “But faith is also personal. You can be touched by a candidate’s faith, or interested in his apparent lack of it. It’s never wholly unimportant, but you should never see a politician as a leader of faith, and we should not ask a man who made his rise in the grubby world of politics to act as if he is an exemplar of his faith, or an explainer or defender of it “

  • Oh, yes, and happy birthday! You’re a lot younger than I’d imagined. :)

  • I would like to know what a candidates religious beliefs are.  Unless they are highly abnormal though I don’t think they should have to explain them.  That being said, I doubt that many of the candidates have the religious beliefs they claim.

  • I have gotten a couple of xanga emails saying I’ve been tagged by you. But when I click on the link it says Page not found. What do I need to do for the tag?    

  • May your day be merry and bright
    And may all your candles stay alight.

    Happy birthday!

  • Happy Birthday, Dan!

    In answer to the question: No – It doesn’t matter too much to me…

  • Absolutely.

    Like any other personal tibit of these canddiates– where they grew up, which college they’ve attended– knowing a presidential canddiates religion and the quality of his/her faith could give insights into the person’s character and/or decision making process. In certain cases, as with Mitt Romney, fundamental questions about his religion must be answered before he could be considered even a viable option for the Presidency.

    I’d also like to use a candidates religiousness as a litmess test to that person’s intelligence. To me, it takes a strong degree of stupidity and creduilty to suscribe to a Scientology or Mormonism– their foundings are so recent and are their founders are such obvious frauds that it would take a complete idiot to be bought into their metaphysical and real-world claims.

  • Happy birthday…again.

    And I wouldn’t mind knowing of it.  A lot of the time someone’s religion does effect their politics.  So, getting to know of their state of religion does help make a better judgment toward my vote..

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

    HAPY BRITHDAY!!!!

    Yes… I want to know… no, I don’t care why…

    So just say I’m thins or that… why should they explain something as basic as their faith. it is what it is.

  • Hippo Birdie to you! Hippo Birdie to you!

    As far as religion, yeah I’d like to know virtually all I can about someone before voting for him/her. What their religion is would definitely play a role in how they vote, how they leafd, and what their views are…granted I suspect the vast majority of would-be canidates would attempt to take the middle-of-the-road approach in order to appeal to the most people.

  • Hmmm.  I think this gets in to that weird line.  Do we NEED to know.  No.  Do we want to know?  Maybe.  I personally don’t care what religion someone is including our President.  I want to know where they stand on certain important issues, how they will act on them, and I want to know as much as possible that their PERSONAL beliefs and issues are not solely what they think is best for the country.

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAN!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAN!!!

    No, I don’t want to know what their religions are. We’re not the Taliban, here.

  • let’s talk about equality; we do not include religion into consideration.
    or is he/she goign to take away people’s sin by pinning himself onto the cross?

  • I want to know what he believes and how consistently he follows those beliefs. Even if his beliefs differ from mine, I can still support him if he is a man of principle.

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

    I don’t have a gift for you but I do have an abundance of unused credits, with which I can buy my very first mini, just for you! 

    Somehow I feel cheap now. 

    Hope your day is fantastic anyway.  ;)

  • Time to dance at this party… ;)   I got the dancin’ fool at my site.

    Blessings…

    Party on!!!

  • Happy Birthday, Dan! You young punk, you!

    It matters to me what religion a presidential candidate is, yep.

  • OH, and I hope everyone realizes that the religion of Christianity(or the claim of it) can be just as destructive as any other religion can be in politics.  Read some American History.

  • Happy Birthday, Dan.  I hope you celebrate and enjoy the day!

    As to the question…

    Yes, I think it is important.  I want to know what they have for a foundation in their lives.

  • First off: Happy birthday!  ^_^  I don’t comment so often, but I read a lot of your stuff, and always find it interesting.  So cheers to your clever brain!  ^_^

    About this post:

    I think politics and religion should be kept seperate, personally… but it’s seemingly impossible these days… so since religious backgrounds seems to influence so many politicians these days, I’d want to know, yes.

  • half way to 72!

    have a good day man

  • No, I believe in separation of church and state!  With Bush, there is too much of this ‘religious bullshit’ going on.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY ‘old’ man!!

  • huginn, if recency is a discrediting factor of religion, then I certainly hope you’re not a Christian.  “Modern” man is 130,000 years old.  I certainly hope a little 2000-year religion (4000 if you believe it started with the Jews) isn’t considered a long-lasting structure (unless, of course, you believe the earth is 6,000 years old, in which case, you don’t care for credibility anyway).
    What’s the difference between 200 years and 2000, in terms of 130,000?  Not much.

  • Yes. I would like to know their religious affiliation.  I would also like to know how involved they have been with the church and how important God is in their life.  I would like to know what being a member of their religion means to them and how their life would be different if they did not have religion in their life.  I would like to know how long they have been with their religion.  My vote would not necessarily be based on these factors alone, but they would play a part.

    Further, I would love to be able to interview the candidates past girlfriends, college roommates, high school teachers, and talk to their parents.  I would like to know as much about the candidate and their character as I could possibly gather.

  • I’m more concerned with their political ideology.  I’d rather have an atheist who knows the purpose of gov’t than a Christian who wants to misuse the office to fulfill what they think the world should be like.  Just as an aside, I think the first option would be better for Christianity.

  • Happy Birthday again!  Next year my grandpa and I will be 100!  (I will be 25 and my Grandpa will be 75.)  We figured we might as well celebrate together and celebrate our 100th birthday at that!!!

  • Happy Birthday Dan!!

    While I do take into account what religion they are it is more of a measuring who they are.  I look at the background with their religion.  Did they find god the day they became politicians? or Have they been faithful to their professed beliefs? or Do they avoid the question because they don’t really know what they believe?  So it isn’t the religion per say that I am looking at, but rather their views and involvement because that can speak volumes about their character.

  • I want to know what their faith is.  I don’t want a fraggin’ Sunday school lesson.  We are electing them to lead our nation, not preach every Sunday.

  • i am interested, yes

  • la faerie joyeuse

    huginn, if recency is a discrediting factor of religion, then I certainly hope you’re not a Christian. 

    You’re funny.

    “Modern” man is 130,000 years old.  I certainly hope a little 2000-year religion (4000 if you believe it started with the Jews) isn’t considered a long-lasting structure

    The standard of judgement for the relative age of a religion was based on the liklihood of the existance of primary documents confirming or denying religious scripture or their described events. We have no contemporary accounts of Jesus’ life– either as a miracle worker or a fraud. Christianity’s historicaly veracity is, for the most part, clouded by two thousand years. Two thousand years where possibily existing accounts may have been destroyed or lost.

    What’s the difference between 200 years and 2000, in terms of 130,000?  Not much.

    A fucking lot. Since Joseph Smith and R.L. Hubbard are both recent enough that we can dig up articles and documents from their lifetimes. We know that R.L. Hubbard is a science fiction writer and that Joseph Smith was a scam artist. It should be a red flag whenever a fantasy writer or a professional scam artist decide to found their own religions.

  • La faerie joyeuse, it shouldn’t matter if huginn is a Christian or not.  

  • I think it’s funny that everyone in that cartoon drawing is holding something religious except Hilary.

  • I thought that was funny too, miguel.

  • maybe not so much about what “religion” they study but where their faith lies.. do they even believe in God or not?

    Hope you have a happy birthday young man

  • Many happy returns of the day!

  • Why are so many people taking religion and assuming he means “Christianity”? 

  • Happy birthday!

    Not really important to know what kind of religion they have.

  • No it doesn’t matter what the religion is as long as they have a “mainstream” religion….

    Hope you have a wonderful day.

  • Happiest Birthday … I barely remember 36…

    We all live in a fantasy world if we don’t even think that religion doesn’t have a role in the candidates lives.  Whatever their belief system is … it will certainly come out in the way they govern.  If that was’t true…then we would have an atheist in office by now.  But it plays a very important role.

  • happy birthday! 

  • Happy birthday.

    As a Christian, I don’t believe that it’s important. We aren’t focused on their religion (at least, we shouldn’t be) but rather on their political goals for our country.

  • People are saying things like, “I don’t care as long as it doesn’t affect his/ her policy” but the reality of it is that your environment affects the way you think and the way a person thinks affects his/ her policy.  If someone grows up in a Christian environment and has Christian beliefs, they will naturally lean more toward things that agree with their beliefs.

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I care a lot more about the issues than their religion.  I do not know if I could vote for someone that was pro-life (because of their religion).

  • Happy Birthday!

    Sorry, you don’t get a mini because I’m saving up credits for Christmas minis. You may get one then.

  • Happy happy birthday to you.  Happy happy birthday to you.  Happy birrrrrrrthday, Mr. TheTheologiansCafe.  Happy happy birthday to you.

    You’re pretty young.  I thought you were much, much older.  But you’re just a year young than my dad!  =] 

  • No. But I want their head to be out of their bible/Quran/Torah/holy book so it doesn’t effect their policy. I want a politician to make decisions based on intellect and logic, not on what a book says.

  • Happy Birthday…. and, I don’t care as long as it’s not something whacked out, such as J.W., H.K., or any that have me coming as a dung fly…. I do have issues with that!

  • happy birthday!

    no i don’t really care what a persons religion is prior to voting unless their political record indicates that this has in some way negatively affected their previous political decisions in some way.  i think that ms.  noonan has very valid points in her article.  she perhaps takes them a bit far in places but in general i agree with her point about leaders needing to explain too much about their personal lives as a whole. 

  • happy birthday!! doing anything special since it’s ur bday??

  • Happy Birthday, Dan!

  • No, unless they are a Scientologist or something like that…They’re crazy!

  • Happy Birthday Dan!   On your question, you’re dern straight I want to know what religion he/her holds. As a Christian, I don’t want someone with a false teaching running the country I live in. And I don’t care what anyone says, it WILL make a difference on how they run the country. That’s why we should vote, if there is a bigger majority that is against Christianity, and they get out and vote with bigger percentages than Christians, then who they vote in should be the one. I will always honor God before man reguardless of WHO is in office. All I can do if hear all the views and make my choice. If I’m not in the majority, then so be it. Same view should be taken by non Christians, if a Christian leader is elected and was elected by a majority, they should accept it and do the best they can. 

  • Get used to comments like formerjunkies Dan, snap.

  • Happy Birthday Dan! Just think…only four more years to the big Four-O! HaHa! Wishing you one of the best birthdays ever! Hugggs!

  • Many happy returns of the day Dan!! Thank you for your sweet comment on my xanga by the way. 36 is extremely young! And the closer I get to it, the younger it gets.

    What I need to know about a presidential candidate is whether the candidate is a person of character, a person with some kind of moral center. I don’t’ actually need to know that they go to a certain church or worship a certain way. Like my mom says, God hears all prayers from all religions. What matters is that the person is a good leader, follows some code of ethics and morals, and is honorable.

  • Yes.. however, i would also like someone who knows the issues – thats going to be thier primary jobs since they are not preachers/preists/ministers…. but politicians. But I dont want a politician to fake thier religion to get votes, so they should at least know the basics of their faith.

    Daniel (doubledb)

  • Geez, Dan – Your one-fourth the way to deader than a doornail. What a geezer!

  • saintvi

    Geez, Dan – Your one-fourth the way to deader than a doornail. What a geezer!

    Wow. You guys are either optimistic or blessed with good genes. I’m 25 and I’m operating under the assumption that I’m half-way to my expiration date. =P

  • Everyone is assuming the politicians will be honest.

    And happy birthday again, hope you’re enjoying a fabulous day!

  • Happy Birthday! You’re still young.

    I don’t care about a candidate’s religion. They don’t have to explain it to me because unless they’re atheist, I don’t agree with it. A lot of people are saying that they don’t care as long as it doesn’t affect policy. Well, unless they’re atheists, it always does, doesn’t it? If they’re against gay marriage and abortion, most likely one of their reasons is that it is against their religion. If they’re religious in name only, yes, they could keep religion and politics separate probably, but if they’re very devout, I would think it would be impossible.

  • I don’t care what religion he belongs to as long as it remains mutually exclusive from his policy.

  • Happy Birthday young un!
    and as for the candidates, I’m with the editorialist on this one.

  • Happy Birthday, Dan.

    Of course we need to know the candidates’ religion. This is America, land of the nosy.

  • I probably won’t vote anyway, but I think religion plays too big a part in deciding votes.  I guess I do want to know the severity of a candidate’s religious beliefs though.  Like with Bush: Anyone retarded enough to think that Jesus/God/the voices in your head/whatever is telling you to start an unnecessary war, is not someone I’d want to vote for. 

    “[Y]our flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore.” ~John Prine

  • no. I only want assurances that whatever it is (s)he won’t let it control his/her decision making.

  • Maybe Peggy Noonan is right, but I still would like to know what a candidate’s faith is and how it impacts their lives on a daily basis.  This will give an idea as to how a person might make a critical decision.  All other things being equal, I generally will vote for the person whose faith lines up closest with mine.  I can’t say that is necessarily the best way to operate, but it has worked for me.

    Again, happy birthday Dan.

  • not really.  If you believe that only one faith should hold the oval office than you are really for a Theocracy.

  • Well….. I think that the stances a political candidate holds on
    issues usually reflects what their beliefs are. So just as long as I
    agree with where they are, I don’t need to know specifically what
    religion he/she is if any.

  • Well… I’m not sure I’m comfortable with a putting a Muslim in office.

  • Yes. If a candidate says he/she is a Christian, I would expect that he/she is a real believer with ideas, beliefs, and thought processes that coincide with Christianity, thus affecting his/her style/approach in leadership. If he/she is agnostic, atheist, or really doesn’t want to be held accountable for certain morals, that he/she should let it be known. Either way, it is a factor in who I choose to vote for.

  • Gunstarhero, I don’t care what religion huginn is, but if someone says that new religions are false religions, then I would hope that person either believes in a really old religion or none at all.

    Huginn, you have a good point about the discrediting of some religions because of their founders.  There isn’t any proof linking Jesus to an incredible profession like a fiction writer, so Christianity does have one up on Mormonism.

    However, something being new doesn’t necessarily make it any more wrong than something which is old.

  • Happy birthday to you! Wishing you the Lord’s blessing today and in the years to come along with your wife.

    Also, regarding knowing religious views, I do care whether they consider themselves Christians.  Devout Christians (non-nominal) will have a Christian worldview that impacts all of their work.

  • Amysong, I’m dismayed that you seem to have lumped non-religious with “doesn’t want to be held accountable for certain morals”.  I am a moral atheist with a strong standard of morality.

  • You wouldn’t ask a doctor what his religious views are before performing surgery, yet you expect both to have sound judgement so why does it make any difference what your president’s beliefs are?

  • Dan, happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • I don’t care as long as it doesn’t impact their decisions.

  • steph843

    You wouldn’t ask a doctor what his religious views are before performing surgery, yet you expect both to have sound judgement so why does it make any difference what your president’s beliefs are?

    The choices a doctor make follow a recipe of procedures and protocol prescribed in his medical school and by his place of employment. There is little room for a physician to insert his own judgement and his own opinions. For the decisions that have to be made (in treatment, during surgery), the varaibles are fairly objective: The quality of life and the risk of the loss of life of the patient.

    The Presidency is a position of power in the guidance of our country’s policy domestically and abroad. The decisions made are more open ended where the weighing of cost/benifits are less clear. Here, a person’s value and world-view figures prominently. A person’s religious views figures significantly in his/her take on issues like abortion, stem-cell, and gay-rights legislations (and those are only the more obvious examples).

    Your comparison of a physicians decision-making and a President’s deicision-makign is off-key. Sound judgement not only requires clarity of mind and depth of experience, but a resivor of beliefs and values from which to guide the decision-making. Knowing a candidate’s religious faith and its particulars is having a glimps at some of those beliefs and values.

  • I want to know their religion, their attitude to other religions and how seriously they take religion.
    I don’t want a staunch Mormon, devoted Muslim or overzealous Baptist in office, thankyouverymuch.

  • la farie joyeous

    Huginn, you have a good point about the discrediting of some religions because of their founders.  There isn’t any proof linking Jesus to an incredible profession like a fiction writer, so Christianity does have one up on Mormonism.

    However, something being new doesn’t necessarily make it any more wrong than something which is old.

    I am of the opinion that all religions are man-made. My amusement is with the relatively new religions since there exists records and reliable accounts of their makings. The older an account is and the more second-hand it is, the greather the chance of fiction and realiblity creeping into it. My stane is that with the old religions, at best we have to be agnostic about the reliability of their religious scritpures; but with the ne religions, we can see with our own eyes their fictiious births.

    I hope that clears up my position.

  • Happy B-day Dan!

    And yeah. . .

    I want to know what a persons religion is—I’m not about to vote for a close-minded Fundamentalist.

    But unless they’re a “conversative extremist” (the irony) I don’t think it really matters what their religion is per say.

  • wow, Dan.  You think having several birthday mini’s would be enough. . .

    and then you look at all the mini’s you got on this entry (and I presume the last one) and you have repeats of everyone. . .

    It looks like you have chocolate cake the least.  Better give you this one now.

    Gosh darny.  I would swear I had mini’s for this one. 

    I would swear when I was on this account earlier today I had like 100 or something.  more then “24″ lol.

    I could leave you a mini through another account. . thincafe seems to be totalling mini credits fastest of the xanga’s. . .but since you already have plenty of cakes, I don’t think I’ll bother LOL.

  • If you are a follower of a certain faith, it will affect your whole world view.  So yes, I do care to know because it will give me insight into how they will most likely act during their presidency.

  • My bad.

    I got confused:

  • ha, I’m one credit away from being able to send you another one. . .

  • and I’m STILL one away since it won’t credit me for another comment when I’ve made several comments on this entry, which makes sense. . .

  • This is how you celebrate your birthday?

  • no, but I do want to know if it affects their political/social beliefs and how. Like are they for or against gay marriage, for or against abortion, that sort of thing. But I don’t necessarily need to know that they are this religion and study this and go to that place of worship or whatever.

  • Happy Birthday. May your day be filled with unbelievable amounts of cake and happiness.

    I like the drawing of Hillary Clinton the best. During this election, being a “Christian” is going to be important. Mitt Romney even considers himself a type of Christian, but I feel it’s more for appeal rather than his true conviction.

  • I agree with AGraceB. 

  • If a candidate was an open satan worshipper I think that it would make a big difference.  Even though that is an extreme, I think it is appropriate to know what a candidate believes.

    Keep in mind that membership in a particular denomination does not necessarily mean they agree with everything that denomination teaches.  Many people are christian in name only.  Many politicians would seem to be only nominally part of a church, perhaps in name only.

    I would really like to know how committed to their faith a candidate is.  I would also like to know if they belong to any secret societies, such as skull and bones, billdebergers, council of 300, bohemian grove, free masons, etc..  I think that that would be a telling bit of information.

    I have heard that every Republican president since Herbet Hoover has been a memeber of Bohemian Grove.  A journalist managed to sneak into their compound north of San Francisco and video taped a night time ceremony, including worship of an owl that represented nature.  I’ve seen part of the tape.  It is really wierd, and especially wierd since only men of high social status and wealth are really elligible for membership.

  • No. All i need to know his his political ideology. If one effects the other it should be known, but it is completely possible to have different political and moral viewpoints. 

  • happy birthday.

    i don’t care what religion a person follows.

  • No. Well, I’d want to know if they were stupid enough to be a Scientologist or some kind of Fags-are-evil-and- Darwin-wants-to-steal-your-soul-from-God maniac… but I suspect that that level of retardation would manifest in other ways, too, so it’d be okay.

    I mean, seriously, what’s so wrong about having a President who doesn’t believe Jesus was the shit? Wasn’t this country founded on religious tolerance, or am I just making things up again?

  • Yes I do, and Happy Birthday!

  • politics and religion don’t mix.
    if anyone tried to mix it (like bush does so horribly) they’d obviously be a bad candidate.

  • Well, I think that if you’re going to let your faith effect your policy, then we should know that. Great leaders follow logical processes and make decisions based on the circumstances, and not on a static set of antiquated morals.

  • Happy Birthday!

    And I don’t really care what religion they are. The only thing that matters is they have the right ideas for the people in mind and they aren’t trying to force others to believe in the same religious ideas they do.

  • Yes. The idea that religious affiliation should be off limits from normal judgment is really really stupid. 

  • What the first person said.

  • happy  happy birthday!

  • happy birthday!

  • Why yes, and happy birthday!!!!!!!

  • Yes because it tells me something about their character and how they are likely to respond to a varity of different things.

  • Hmmmmm…  I’m voting for a president, not a Sunday School teacher, so it doesn’t make a great difference to me.  A candidate shouldn’t have to annouce his faith: I think it should be evident from the way he lives.  If a politician tells me that he is a Christian, I will expect more from him and be more disappointed if he screws up.  And if there is a better connection between what he says he believes and how he acts, then I think that says something about his integrity.  But that extends to all areas of life, not just the religious.

  • If I don’t think it’ll affect their decisions [yeah right] then I don’t care. Otherwise I’d love an atheist candidate so I don’t have to worry about her/him getting some kind of bullshit holy war idea into her/his head.

  • Faith is ones own private matter… i prefer honesty

  • Yes I do. So I know what freedoms their going to try and snatch away to fit their beliefs.

  • Oh my god I spelt they’re wrong.

  • I would like to know what a candidates religious beliefs are.  Unless
    they are highly abnormal though I don’t think they should have to
    explain them.  That being said, I doubt that many of the candidates
    have the religious beliefs they claim.

    Oyun
    Firmalar
    Firma

  • Happy B-day 1st of all…you know in all honesty religion does play a part in a politicians beliefs…I mean you can’t separate the two…can you? You are what you are…they will live a life based on their beliefs.

  • Since they are typically not Jewish, I dont really care.  (Would I care if they were Jewish? It would probably influence me more to vote for them)

    The only way I would ever hold religion against a candidate would be if they were involved in falun gong. Because those people are straight up wack-jobs. (and I know from DAILY personal experience)

  • Absolutely!  Mormon’s for example, believe that black people are evil, they wear “magic” underwear, and will spawn spirit babies to rule entire planets! I think it would be irresponsible of me to vote for someone like that who’s going to run this country.

  • I doubt christians would vote for someone if they were athiest. Even if they had the best policies that everyone loved.

  • Happy Belated Birthday! All the best reaching 108 :)

  • I don’t really care about the person’s religious beliefs. I care about his/her opinions on current issues.

  • No. I just want to know that it won’t affect their decisions too much.

  • It was my birthday yesterday. You’ll notice i kept my fanfare offline.

  • I don’t need to know what their religion is, just that they seem capable of doing a good job.

  • Religion affects politics, plain and simple.  But just because a candidate clings to a religion to gain more votes does not mean that: 1 they actually have moral convictions, or 2 they will follow their belief system in career-deciding instances.
    A danger that exists in mixing politics and religion is that people might look to this person for spiritual guidance in a sort of medieval Patrine Supremacy viewpoint.  This is the main problem with the “radical” muslims in the middle east: the political leaders are thought to speak for Allah and as such anything they say goes.
    While it is necessary that the leaders of a nation be moral, even St. Augustine noticed the need for secular political authority in City of God.

  • Religion can play a big deal on a persons outcome and way of thinking.  If I am right, Geo Bush is pretty religious… I think that might be why he is pushing on with the war on terroism and such? Im not entirely sure.  But to me, politics should be unreligious as possible… Though that is impossible because I think at the end of the day, most things boil down to morales and laws which originated from religious beliefs and practises.

    So it is a really stingy topic. GOod blog, makes me think.

  • who cares what their religion is…

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