Prompted by something from another thread.

Do you think it is important that the President of the United States should be a religious person?

If so, is the particular religion important, or just the fact that the person has a faith in some "higher" power?

Would you ever vote for an atheist?

Atheism is not anything to vote against, I suppose, but I tend to think that as long as the President doesn't make his religious opinion (or opinion of religion) my business, it's none of my business.

It strikes me as a little strange that the United States has separation of religion and state enshrined in its Constitution, but it often seems that many of the people don't actually want that. And, in general, the more religious you are, the more you want your President to be just like you, especially when it comes to religious beliefs.

It is strange, but Americans don't like the burden of what we claim as American principle. It's just too inconvenient and expensive.

Tragic.

If I agree with the presidents moral standing not knowing his religious inclination then that is what is important. The difficult thing seems to be finding out exactly what a candidates morals really are whether they profess religious belief or not.

Religion, or lack of, should not be a factor. It is impossible to describe a person merely by their religion or atheism. People are much more complex than the simple labels we ascribe. The actual moral character and handling of issues are more important than any specific stance on religion.

Separation of State and Religion is one of the foundations of modern democracy.

you know i find it really hard to understand american views on what a good president is

i dont even know if and what out PM and the ones before him belive in. Its totally irrelivent as to wether he is a good leader

It doesn't matter to me if the President were religious or not. They cross the line, however, when they try to pass laws based on the religion's doctrine. I would resent it if they tried to impose their religion on me.

That's why I hate Bush and would much much much rather have Kerry, Nader, or Cobb . . . Oh, but I'll continue on that in another thread . . . :D

20 posts to go!