Should religion play an important role in choosing presidential candidates?

No

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by Stephen D. Wilson

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Faith, what a truly wonderful word. It so many uses, a very pretty name, an encouragement when things aren't going their best, or a word that describes how you know there is a God, or Higher Power in the Universe. In the end faith is a very personal word for each of us, and so are our religious beliefs, and they should stay that way.

The two things you are never supposed to talk about at work are politics and religion, why? Sooner or later, someone will be offended. Then you'll both be off to your managers office to sign a piece of paper that states you don't play well with others. Political Office is not chosen by a church, nor should the church be involved in any way other than to act as guide for the congregation if they are asked.

The fact that all of our (U.S.) political leaders are sworn in on their family Bible is as close to politics as I think religion should get. This decade has been more less, for good or bad, had religion forced down our throats politically. The President makes no bones about his faith, and that's fine, except when he dedicates program funding to only religious groups.

I should point out that my family and I are all Pentecostal. My wife is Lutheran, my daughter baptized into the Assembly of God. Strange how the same passages mean different things based on which one of us you speak to. At my roots are people that talk in tongues and dance to music played in their heart. I really only have a few issues with one religion, but that would be on a different subject.

This year, we have a Baptist Minister, a Mormon, someone that may have been Muslim. In the last election we had a Catholic running.I freely admit that I know next to nothing about LDS, other than they were not received well in our fair country until they reached Utah. From there, they teach their gospel. Would any one doubt that the main message in all religions in the world is one of peace? ANY!

There are extremists in every religion, some are very dangerous. WE know who they are, maybe not where, but certainly who. We cannot help but know them. They force us to react to them every time they take a car laden with bombs and for the sake of their God, blow it up in a market square, killing hundreds. They are so proud of what they have done that they made a recording proclaiming their intent, oh wait, they're wearing a hood over their face. Never have understood that, if your proud to die for Islam, don't hide your face, Allah may not be able to recognize you in heaven for killing the infidels.

To me it's reassuring that our leaders do have some sort of faith, some sort of knowing they have someplace to turn to when they need some quiet advice. I do not particularly care what religion he or she practices. I also don't want to know what they wear to bed. It the same principle. It's none of our business.

Gov. Huckabee scares me. Stating that the Constitution of The United States of America needs to be brought in line with Biblical law? He's not serious, is he? Our Founding Fathers took great care to make sure that Church would have no undue influence in the matters of state. They didn't say we couldn't or shouldn't show our faith to our religions just not allow the two to mix. The Fathers didn't say that we were not acknowledge a majority of our country's belief in the Almighty God, just that he wasn't allowed a vote in cabinet meetings or the congress.

We should choose a leader that inspires us to be more than what we are. Challenge us to go to that next level. Take our anger and hope and change that into a force for good. We need someone that will show us how to help a neighbor for no other reason than he's a neighbor. We need a president that can give our hearts a quicker pace, fill it with the pride of Americanism, and change our little neighborhood into something beyond grand. If he or she gets that ability from God, so be it, I don't need to know it, that's between the two of them. He/She then gets to work on it through us. We have to believe in the office of a person in as much as the person themselves. Religion is good for all things except as a qualifier or disqualifier for president. It has to be, if not, take the last two hundred and thirty two years of American History and throw it our the door. Better on the street, than in a theocratic regime.

There are too many other issues that are much more important to worry about, please lets focus on those, please.

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