Religion and politics

I'm closely watching the race for president. I know, I know - the election isn't for 11 months. But I confess - I love the campaign process.

Except for one thing: I want religion off the table.

I don't care who attends which church. I don't think it should be an issue. I don't care that Mitt Romney is Mormon - I am not likely to vote for him, but his church of choice has nothing to do with it. And my guess is there is a Mormon or two out there who won't support him, either. I am also not likely to vote for people of many other faiths - there are people at my own church I might not vote for if they were running.

It's really not an issue, what you believe or how you believe it. Faith in a God - or lack of - has absolutely nothing to do with public policy. The job of the president is to run our government. And one needs to be able to make wise decisions. Enlighten me, if you will, as to how religion affects one's judgment.

Let's face it: A lot of people who consider themselves church-going, committed to their faith, or spiritual have made bad decisions in the past. Look at Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggert. Or Pat Robertson and his irresponsible comments. Has their faith helped them?

On the other hand, Jimmy Carter is very open about his faith, and he was not terribly effective as president. (Though as a former president, he is a role model.) I don't know that Ronald Reagan was all that religious, and people loved him. Bill Clinton claims to be a man of faith, but it didn't stop him from cheating on his wife.

This week's Newsweek ran an article about the dispute between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, including a little boxed comparison of Mormons and Evangelicals. What I found most shocking was that, under Evangelicals, it claimed that salvation comes from a personal relationship with God, but actions on earth do not count.

So how you live your life, how you treat others, has nothing to do with salvation? A mass-murdered who feels they have a close personal relationship with God will come out OK in the end?

(This was not the case for Mormons, according to the 30-word synopsis provided by Newsweek - actions in this life do count.)

I doubt that all Evangelicals would agree with this assessment - I'm sure many of them believe that how they live their life is, in fact, relevant. But I'm a little alarmed by this concept. What happened to "Do unto others ..." and telling the disciples to give up their earthly possessions and go with Christ?

This is why I want it off the table - there are too many interpretations, and bottom, line, it doesn't benefit the entire country. I don't want any more discussion of who believes what. I don't think one need be a Christian in order to be president - we are not a theocracy. The founding fathers wanted a very clear separation of church and state - in no way did they want one belief system to dominate.

More important is how these candidates will handle national policy, what kind of laws they will enact. Whether or not they will attend forums on global warming, provide health insurance to all Americans, protect our rights, improve education, research alternative energy sources, and allocate tax dollars. And it does not take adherence to particular religious dogma to make those decisions in the best interest of all Americans.