Thursday, April 3, 2008

The Politics of Religion

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9361.html

McCain is starting to draw criticism for not talking about his religion much. Faith and politics has always been a touchy subject, everything from Kennedy being a Catholic to Obama's current situation with his pastor. I think that McCain is smart to not talk about his religion much. Religious voters feel very strongly about candidates' spiritual orientation, and many vote along those kinds of political lines. I don't think a candidate should be obliged to disclose the details of his religious faith. Sometimes the media can rip people apart over these things, and it can become part of a candidate's downfall. Take Mitt Romney, for example. Oh my gosh, he's a Mormon! Many people ignorantly didn't vote for him for that reason, just because he was Mormon. All religion really does is mainly influence how a candidate will feel on a certain issues, so if you feel the same on those issues, who cares what religion they are? It's not like they'd be extreme enough to instate their specific religion and repress everyone else; there's way too many checks and balances in our system to even get close to that kind of thing. I don't know what McCain's religious views are, but whatever they are, they cause him to adopt certain values that he would use in his presidency, and I just happen to agree with them too, even though we are more than likely not of the same religious persuasion.

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