Recently, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum questioned whether or not President Obama’s religious views were truly Christian. Criticisms of Santorum have come in at least three flavors:
1. Why in the world is Santorum even bringing up religion? We aren’t a theocracy; we have separation of Church and State.
2. How dare Santorum or anybody pass judgement on someone else’s religious views?
3. Santorum is nuts.
Let’s review:
1. It was actually the President who played the religion card by showing up at a prayer breakfast and saying rich people should pay higher taxes because, as the Bible says, to whom much is given, much is required. Spider-Man’s uncle said something similar in a movie, but I’m pretty confident the President was quoting the Bible. Anyway, it was the President who broached the subject.
2. Unless you believe that the One True God is Tolerance, then why wouldn’t one’s freely stated religious views be fair game for scrutiny? Santorum’s Catholic view that birth control is wrong has been widely discussed. When he questioned whether mainline Protestant denominations have lost their way, people questioned that, too. Whether it’s the President, Santorum, or Mitt Romney, let’s do as much Q and A as we can before the election. For many people, their religious views help shape their values, so let’s put it all on the table.
3. Okay, regarding this one, well, people call politicians all kinds of things, and I suppose they will for the foreseeable future. That said, it really doesn’t help further the debate much, huh?
Bottom line: There are a lot of Americans for whom religious faith is an extremely important thing. Some Americans are surprisingly hostile to it. For those in either camp, discussing the religious views of our three leading candidates can be an important part of assessing who can best lead us over the next four years.