Do you agree with McCain that the U.S. President should be a Christian?

Question

Here's link to the story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071001/ap_po/mccain_religion;_ylt=Amtp7H6MW_xtZ57zcxXbJpBh24cA

McCain feels that the best candidate for the United States would be a Christian, as he believes that our country was founded on the values of that faith.

Here's that I think: A candidate's religion has nothing to do with their competence. Politicians use "faith" publicity to get votes based on platforms that are absolutely irrelevant to performing their job. In some cases, they allow religious ties to dilute the line between the separation of church and state, especially in taxpayer funds.

What do you think? Bring on any disagreement you wish; I'll choose the best answer based on the quality of the response.

Answer 1

That's definitely a question many Christian voters should be asking themselves. I believe W.G. Harding presented himself very much as that quality of person when in reality his office was full of scandal that wasn't revealed completely until after he was out of office, I believe. I am Christian, and it would be nice to have a leader who would be like the philospher king of ancient Greece. Highly intelligent, with superior values, etc. the total package who is also Christian. We don't elect our leaders after hearing a sermon of theirs or reading a book of theirs on spiritual insight or a resume of their good deeds and second hand accounts of their sacrificial living. As far as we know Adolf Hitler could have believed and espoused he was a good Christian man, I don't know. We need to look at the character of our leaders and the quality of our leaders. We don't need some "Nero" who will play his violin blissfully, while "Rome" burns because he's under the impression it 's for the "best." Look I'm no genius, but what is everybody's obsession about making the founding fathers "Deists." I guess that's the same as saying they were "Wiccan" in today's language. It's assinine. It's like arguing about ethnicity in the Balkans or something, forget about it. Let's pull together for the sake of everyone in this country-atheists, christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. Aren't we tired of this country being run by dum-dums, whatever their religous, ethnic background. Can we get somebody with some savvy for once??

Answer 2

I disagree with McCain and I agree with you.

Political position should be based on that person's past, and their ability (or inability) to overcome problems and use critical thinking skills to benefit the country and not just their own personal agenda. If a person has a history of problems in the past (drugs, drinking, illegal activities etc) no matter what religion they are, the fact that they are a christian should not automatically make them a candidate for presidency.

So many people play the religion card these days, and that is not important. As long as a person has values and morals.... not christian values or christian morals.... To me, when i see people debating on TV and talking about how much they love god, and how their lives are steered by god...... It's like a damn dog & pony show.... it's like they are just going through the motions to win the votes because they know the christians are the majority. It's non-sense.

Religion should be the LEAST important thing on the ballot....hell, if it were up to me it would not even be a deciding point. So many people are saying "oh, if he/she's not christian, they won't get my vote!" that's nonsense.... basically they are saying... the person may be best suited for the job as the president... they may have what it takes to lead this country and fix all of bush's mistakes.... but if they aren't christian we're not voting for them.

That's truly ridiculous. religion is the obsession of this country, and the worst part about it is the majority don't even KNOW their own religion. They spend so much time cramming it down everyone else's throats that you'd think they would know their own religion. Most atheists know more about the bible than christians. It's pathetic.

If christians are not even good at being christians, why should one of them be president of the U.S.

The president should be an unbiased atheist who respects all religions equally... not a christian who thinks their god is the only god and everyone who doesn't believe the same is going to hell.

Answer 3

First:
It means he's willing to violate the principle of the "no religious test" clause of the United States Constitution.
(Article VI, section 3) and which says:

“ ...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ”

I find it most disheartening that a person who, as a military man, swore to defend the constitution, would act this way.

Second:
It's easy to go on about the "values of a faith." But what are they really talking about? Do people really suppose that what we've legislated over the centuries is uniquely derived from the teachings of Jesus? Do Jews or Hindus look kindly on theft and murder? I think not.

In any case, from what I know of Jesus, I'm not sure he'd like his name associated with a lot of what we've done. I have a hard time associating Him with death by lethal injection, ignoring the health of children, and pretending that the money-lenders, if unfettered, hold the solution to all our problems. But then again, I'm not a Christian.

Answer 4

I don't agree with what McCain says. I think that the reasons why friends I know don't like this guy. He is showing division instead of unifying.
I am a Christians, and I like if that so. However, being a Christian President it didn't give you a perfect policy. See what's going right now?

It is not the religion of the candidates. And your right It is how competence the persons is. Faith a big help if based on moral and fair judgment.

Answer 5

Not really. He's a leader of a world full of diversity. Yet in his mind, everyone should be a Christian. Could he really say that he's for the people if he doesn't represent people of other religions or support gay rights or stem cell research. He aims to rule the country by Bible tenents that were written for a different people in a far away place. Will he also consider the tenents of modern thinking? What would our founding fathers think about the end of a separation of church and state?

Answer 6

Actually, I often think the opposite: that anyone who cannot tell the difference between myth and reality should never hold public office. Imagine no wars over religious differences!

I also recognize that candidates use religion to manipulate the gullible - yet another reason to disqualify them from office. Imagine all of the believers being forced to vote based on actual issues, not allegiance to a particular imaginary friend!

Answer 7

No, I don't agree that the USian president should be religious in any way.
If someone is so gullible as to believe in the existence of invisible flying gods in the sky it makes me wonder how sane they are.

There was a time I quite admired McCain, even though he was (is) a republican but then he went all weird.
I think the start of his weirdness may have been when he went to Falwell's university and gave some sorta talk - up until then he seemed okay ... but who knows what goes on in the mind of a man who spent years as a POW in Vietnam?

Answer 8

I think that Christianity assumes that all christians will strive to uphold certain moral standards.
I also think that christians believe that they are more likely to be striving for these things.
A true christian would put the people first and make decisions bearing in mind the impact it would have upon every man, woman, and child.

The truth of the matter is, nearly all christians fail in their striving, for the misinterpret and misunderstand what it means to be rightious.

I find the religion to be exclusive, limited, and limiting upon others. This is not the freedom our country was founded on.

Our country is in serious need of a forward thinking, innovative, and enlightened neopolotical human of dignity, honor, and respect for all of mankind. Humble to all.

Get corporate profiteering out of our government!

Answer 9

i do no longer care the religion of the President. His faith isn't each and every thing. i think of it is extra substantial that the President has sturdy techniques, a sturdy music checklist, sturdy acceptance for previous events, and sturdy morals. certainly i did no longer even care that invoice Clinton had sordid affairs. I had extra difficulty that Congress wished to splatter his indescressions throughout international information. That became the sordid affair, no longer the sexual kin he had. If we are able to confirm our decision for President has ALL electorate' hobbies at coronary heart, that would desire to be our difficulty. besides, Muslims are non violent, radical revolt Muslims who made up their very own faith with their very own regulations are actually not non violent. i'm thinking Obama isn't a radical Muslim. He extra seems to be a clean thinking rational guy from Illinois.

Answer 10

Abso-f*cking-lutely NOT.

Look at the damage that's been done by the presidents who were always spouting off about how "Christian" they were.

This is not to say that a Christian could not be a good president. But the ones who blather about it the most openly have been terrible.

I think it's time for a SECULAR president who refuses to disclose his or her religious beliefs, and openly prefers to keep public life secular. He or she could be ANY religion, as long as it was kept private.