I really wish people would stop insisting that American was founded on christian principles this is one of the greatest lies of our times. Go back and research what the founding fathers thought of christians and you may think again about that statement and since Mr. McCain insists on such nonsense he has lost my vote…

When will these presidental candidates come to the realization that politics and religion do not mix. The best thing some of these candidates can do would be to stop talking. They are digging their whole deeper and deeper.

I see republicans are getting the idea! I hope the drop off of evangelist support doesn't derail them from restoring our founding principles of democracy. Maybe one day they could have another chance at winning the WH.

America was founded on Deist principals; I wish people would stop saying it was on Christian principals. Why should someone believe that non-Christians have less principal and morality than Christians? I know atheists that exhibit more Christian principal than many Christians. A person's religion or lack of religion in today's society has no bearing at all on if they are a good law-abiding person or an evil fanatic.

Do your job.

You are misrepresenting McCain's statement in the headline. I don't like McCain, but that doesn't give you permission to fail at presenting the facts.

Fix the headline.

Laurinda, you misspelled "hole". Steve and Laurinda, wouldn't it be nice if we could just seperate not only church and state but church and people (sarcasm alert-level 5)

Mr. McCain has finally lost all direction. Voting for a muslim in this country would be the most radical vote for confusion yet. Muslims, historicaly, can't keep peace in their own regions. What makes anyone think that it would be any different here?

I have read the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence…NO where does it say this country is a Christian country. It makes reference to God but does not say a "Christian" God…there are many interpretations of what God means…

If anyone takes a look at the "Jefferson" Bible - he tried to make the ideals in the Bible accessible to others based on reason and rationality, and not "hocus pocus" that seems to pervade current interpretations of the Bible.

Politicians are voted to do the governments business for all the people of this country, regardless of a particular religion. Maybe if politicians would do this, we'd actually work more cohesively as a society rather than constantly pitting one group against another as if one religion is better than another.

McCain is a major disappointment. He was once seen as the reasonable Republican but now seems to be getting sucked into the irrational Republican vortex that will doom the party until we can get it back on track to serve ALL the people. Ask Tavis Smiley… I guess the Republicans only want to serve those that look and think like them…hmm, doesn't that sound like dictators and authoritarian governments in recent history?

The Republicans do not have my vote in the next election cycle…enough is enough.

OMG, why wouldn't we stop mixing religion and politics? Yes, yes, yes, America is a religious country but this is also a free country where people can choose to be, for instance, a free thinker. Moreover, we have learned enough that religious issues are very-very intricate and explosive at the same time.

So, Senator ….. any other substantive issue worth discussion that you can offer us?

I think Mr. McCain needs to take a history course: "…the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…" - Article 11, Treaty of Tripoli, 1797, unanimously ratified by the Senate and signed by President Adams. While the treaty was widely published throughout the country, there is no record of any controversy surrounding that section of it.

OMG, why wouldn't we stop mixing religion and politics? Yes, yes, yes, America is a religious country but this is also a free country where people can choose to be, for instance, a free thinker. Moreover, we have learned enough that religious issues are very-very intricate and explosive at the same time.

So, Senator ….. any other substantive issue worth discussing that you can offer us?

George Washington and Religion
Washington gives us little in his writings to indicate his personal religious beliefs. As noted by Franklin Steiner in "The Religious Beliefs Of Our Presidents" (1936), Washington commented on sermons only twice. In his writings, he never referred to "Jesus Christ." He attended church rarely, and did not take communion - though Martha did, requiring the family carriage to return back to the church to get her later.

When trying to arrange for workmen in 1784 at Mount Vernon, Washington made clear that he would accept "Mohometans, Jews or Christians of any Sect, or they may be Atheists." Washington wrote Lafayette in 1787, "Being no bigot myself, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the church that road to heaven which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest, easiest and least liable to exception."

Clear evidence of his personal theology is lacking, even on his deathbed when he died a "death of civility" without expressions of Christian hope. His failure to document beliefs in conventional dogma, such as a life after death, is a clue that he may not qualify as a conventional Christian. Instead, Washington may be closer to a "warm deist" than a standard Anglican in colonial Virginia.

He was complimentary to all groups and attended Quaker, German Reformed, and Roman Catholic services. In a world where religious differences often led to war, Washington was quite conscious of religious prejudice. However, he joked about it rather than exacerbated it. Washington once noted that he was unlikely to be affected by the German Reformed service he attended, because he did not understand a word of what was spoken.

Washington was an inclusive, "big tent" political leader seeking support from the large numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers in Virginia, and even more groups on a national level. He did not enhance his standing in some areas by advocating support for a particular theology, and certainly did not identify "wedge issues" based on religious differences. Instead, in late 1775, Washington banned the Protestant celebration of the Pope's Day (a traditional mocking of the Catholic leader) by the Continental Army. He deplored the sectarian strife in Ireland, and wished the debate over Patrick Henry's General Assessment bill would "die an easy death."

Washington was not anti-religion. Washington was not uninterested in religion. He was a military commander who struggled to motivate raw troops in the French and Indian War. He recognized that recruiting the militia in the western part of Virginia required accommodating the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Baptists, and Dutch Reformed members in officially-Anglican Virginia. He was aware that religious beliefs were a fundamental part of the lives of his peers and of his soldiers. He knew that a moral basis for the American Revolution and the creation of a new society would motivate Americans to support his initiatives - and he knew that he would receive more support if he avoided discriminating against specific religious beliefs.

In the Revolutionary War, Washington supported troops selecting their own chaplains (such as the Universalist John Murray) while trying to avoid the development of factions within the army. Religion offered him moral leverage to instill discipline, reduce theft, deter desertion, and minimize other rambunctious behaviors that upset local residents. It was logical for Washington to invoke the name of the Divine, but it may have been motivated more by a desire for improving life on earth rather than dealing with life after death.

Wahington understood the distinction between morality and religion, and between toleration of differences and full religious liberty. Washington's replies to messages from Jews and Swedenborgians showed he was not merely accepting the differences of religion, tolerating those who had not chosen the correct path. Instead, he endorsed what Jefferson would later define as a "wall of separation between church and state."

Washington used generic terms with his public requests for divine assistance, to the extent that his personal denomination must be classified as "unknown." That vagueness has not stopped Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Unitarian Universalists from claiming him as a member, and has invited others to identity him as a Deist. Washington was a man dedicated to creating national unity, not an exclusionist seeking to identify and select those with correct beliefs for reward in this life or the next. It would have been inconsistent for him to seek to blend the westerners and the Tidewater residents, the Yankees from the north and the slave-owning planters from the South, into one national union - while at the same time supporting narrow religious tests for officeholders, or advocating the superiority of one religious sect over another.

The obelisk we call the Washington Monument is clad in white limestone. When illuminated at night, it glows white. It stands out from the dark background because of the artificial light we project on it; there is no natural light corning from the stone. If we projected a colored light, we'd see the tall Washington Monument as an object glowing with color. Similarly, many writers project onto Washington's life a set of religious beliefs - and see a reflection of what they project.

Mason Locke Weems manufactured stories to establish Washington as a pious Christian, a man who suceeded in part because he prayed for God's blessing. Weems was a parson, and his inaccuracies (including the moralistic "I can not tell a lie" tale about cutting down a cherry tree) have shaped the perspective of Washington for two centuries now. Many modern writers still repeat second-hand information of questionable reliability to describe Washington as a traditional Protestant. The individuals who describe Washington's life as one marked by prayer and steady attendance at church are often advocates of a religious perspective, proselytizing the perspective of a particular denomination or at least trying to shape American society so more people attend church regularly.

At times, they cite the generic proclamations issued as a public leader to portray Washington (or even Jefferson!) as a mainstream Christian, and to define the United States as a Christian Nation. Some of those who emphasize the personal faith - or faithlessness - of elected officials use it as a partisan issue. The Moral Majority led by Rev. Jerry Falwell was clearly allied with the Republican Party, and both Jimmy Carter and Pat Robertson used religion as part of his campaign for the presidency.

In modern America, many religious leaders consider personal salvation to be fundamental to the strength/survival of American society. The debate about the morality of elected officials has been intense since the realization that Lyndon Johnson lied about the status of war in Vietnam and subsequent Presidents have demonstrated publicly their own lapses, particularly Presidents Nixon and Clinton.

Those who attempt to project a religious theology upon Washington often seek to connect theological beliefs with civic benefits, assuming morality is based on religion. In contrast,
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It spite of Christian right attempts to rewrite history to make Jefferson into a Christian, little about his philosophy resembles that of Christianity. Although Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence wrote of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, there exists nothing in the Declaration about Christianity.

Although Jefferson believed in a Creator, his concept of it resembled that of the god of deism (the term "Nature's God" used by deists of the time). With his scientific bent, Jefferson sought to organize his thoughts on religion. He rejected the superstitions and mysticism of Christianity and even went so far as to edit the gospels, removing the miracles and mysticism of Jesus (see The Jefferson Bible) leaving only what he deemed the correct moral philosophy of Jesus.

Distortions of history occur in the minds of many Christians whenever they see the word "God" embossed in statue or memorial concrete. For example, those who visit the Jefferson Memorial in Washington will read Jefferson's words engraved: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every from of tyranny over the mind of man." When they see the word "God" many Christians see this as "proof" of his Christianity without thinking that "God" can have many definitions ranging from nature to supernatural. Yet how many of them realize that this passage aimed at attacking the tyranny of the Christian clergy of Philadelphia, or that Jefferson's God was not the personal god of Christianity? Those memorial words came from a letter written to Benjamin Rush in 1800 in response to Rush's warning about the Philadelphia clergy attacking Jefferson (Jefferson was seen as an infidel by his enemies during his election for President). The complete statement reads as follows:

"The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, & they [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: & enough too in their opinion, & this is the cause of their printing lying pamphlets against me. . ."

Jefferson aimed at laissez-faire liberalism in the name of individual freedom, He felt that any form of government control, not only of religion, but of individual mercantilism consisted of tyranny. He thought that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry.

If anything can clear of the misconceptions of Jeffersonian history, it can come best from the author himself. Although Jefferson had a complex view of religion, too vast for this presentation, the following quotes provide a glimpse of how Thomas Jefferson viewed the corruptions of Christianity and religion

Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.

-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

People should do some research into the history of the United States founding fathers before making such claims as to it "christian" birth….

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814

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If we did a good act merely from love of God and a belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality of the Atheist? …Their virtue, then, must have had some other foundation than the love of God.

-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Thomas Law, June 13, 1814

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You say you are a Calvinist. I am not. I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Ezra Stiles Ely, June 25, 1819

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As you say of yourself, I too am an Epicurian. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Short, Oct. 31, 1819

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Among the sayings and discourses imputed to him [Jesus] by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Short, April 13, 1820

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To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise: but I believe I am supported in my creed of materialism by Locke, Tracy, and Stewart. At what age of the Christian church this heresy of immaterialism, this masked atheism, crept in, I do not know. But heresy it certainly is.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, Aug. 15, 1820

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Man once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind.

-Thomas Jefferson to James Smith, 1822.
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I can never join Calvin in addressing his god. He was indeed an Atheist, which I can never be; or rather his religion was Daemonism. If ever man worshipped a false god, he did.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

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And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors.

-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

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It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it [the Apocalypse], and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to General Alexander Smyth, Jan. 17, 1825

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All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Roger C. Weightman, June 24, 1826 (in the last letter he penned)

Dear Mr. McCain
Since your ignorance is so blatant and I now find you ineligible to serve as president I thought that I would do the research for you I hope you learn a thing or two with my previous postings please let me know If I can further your education any more…

I'm not voting for McCain, but at least I can recognize that he is a man of honor, integrity, and faith.

You anti-religion types continue to show off your ignorance. Religion is an important part of every society. Our constitution is superior because it insists that the gov't not endorse any one particular religion. Open your eyes. Atheism & Secularism are religions in their own right. Our constituition protects Me from Your religion.

Laurinda-please help us in Ulster County put a democrat in our DA's office.His web address is http://www.sennettforda.com thanks. Any help you can give us would be much appreciated.

Most of us connect to the religion and deity of the culture we were raised in. Even those who don't believe in Jehovah/Yahweh but who were raised in a Christian country find the images and metaphors of that religion to be useful and meaningful. We do not choose our religions, we simply inherit them. The generation of 1789, who wrote the Constitution, were raised with Christian concepts and they articulated their thoughts using Christian metaphors.

However, most Christians have not read the Bible (cover-to-cover, Genesis to Revelations). They learned their religion from movies like the Ten Commandments and The Passion of the Christ. They have heard their minister or priest cherry pick a verse here and a verse there to make a point when another minister or priest would use different verses to prove the opposite point of view - all from the Bible.

Ask any ten Christians what a particular verse in the Bible means and you will get twelve contradictory answers. The same is true of Muslims, where one Imam declares the will of Allah to be this and another assures us that Allah has a very different opinion. That is to say, we form our opinions first and then figure out how God must surely agree with us. This is not a conscious process, but how else can two people read the same book and disagree violently on what it meant?

The Christianity of today does not resemble the Christianity of 1776. The same words are used, but their meanings have evolved dramatically.

If we decided today that all future actions of all levels of government should be based on Christian principles, the Conservatives would assure us that God wants us to be Conservative and the Liberals would assure us that God clearly instructed us to be Liberal. Feminists would assure us that God didn't REALLY mean that women should be subservient to their fathers and husbands. Divorced people (half of us) would assure us the God didn't REALLY forbid divorce. When police started enforcing feminine modesty by dictating what it is decent to wear (longer skirts, no display of belly button, sensible shoes, covered hair), many women would be perturbed to learn that their fashion preferences are not Biblically authorized. When husbands start taking their wives to court for disobedience, wives will start complaining. When people start getting ticketed and fined for not going to church, they will surely complain about the fine. They will also protest having to get a signed doctor's excuse for not going to church.

I would be willing to vote for a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, an atheist, or a Wiccan as long as he or she was not a devout Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, atheist, or Wiccan.

I have posted many letters and other "FACTS" concerning our founding fathers however, CNN has seen fit to not post them. They did at first but now I find them missing. Imagine that CNN sensoring the truth…

This McCain caracter is so "wishy, washy" in his thought's.

I just can't believe the stances he takes on letting Mexican illegals come in, and to also vote for all the benefits to go along with their intrusion (breeching our boarders)Now this idiotic statement confirms my thoughts (The North VIETNAMESE must have knocked a screw loose on him during his capture?)he is indeed in need of a shrink!
He is a screw-ball in his THINKING, and anyone even remotely thinking of him as Presidential Material, is also in need of help too.

The last line of Article 6 of the US Constitution clearly states, “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The founders of our constitution were religious people, but they inserted this critical piece of policy for a good reason.

Who is the Muslim candidate? Please don't hide and stand up!

James Madison
Called the father of the Constitution, Madison had no conventional sense of Christianity. In 1785, Madison wrote in his Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments:

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."

"What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not."

The U.S. Constitution
The most convincing evidence that our government did not ground itself upon Christianity comes from the very document that defines it– the United States Constitution.

If indeed our Framers had aimed to found a Christian republic, it would seem highly unlikely that they would have forgotten to leave out their Christian intentions in the Supreme law of the land. In fact, nowhere in the Constitution do we have a single mention of Christianity, God, Jesus, or any Supreme Being. There occurs only two references to religion and they both use exclusionary wording. The 1st Amendment's says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . ." and in Article VI, Section 3, ". . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Thomas Jefferson interpreted the 1st Amendment in his famous letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in January 1, 1802:

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

Some Religious activists try to extricate the concept of separation between church and State by claiming that those words do not occur in the Constitution. Indeed they do not, but neither does it exactly say "freedom of religion," yet the First Amendment implies both.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote in his Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom:

"Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination."

James Madison, perhaps the greatest supporter for separation of church and State, and whom many refer to as the father of the Constitution, also held similar views which he expressed in his letter to Edward Livingston, 10 July 1822:

"And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."

Today, if ever our government needed proof that the separation of church and State works to ensure the freedom of religion, one only need to look at the plethora of Churches, temples, and shrines that exist in the cities and towns throughout the United States. Only a secular government, divorced from religion could possibly allow such tolerant diversity.

Shame on McCain, saying our country was founded on Christian principles. Hogwash. You'd think he never read the Federalist Papers. What a disservice to the Founding Fathers. The U.S. was intentionally deisgned to be religion-neutral.

The Declaration of Independence
Many Christians who think of America as founded upon Christianity usually present the Declaration as "proof." The reason appears obvious: the document mentions God. However, the God in the Declaration does not describe Christianity's God. It describes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." This nature's view of God agrees with deist philosophy but any attempt to use the Declaration as a support for Christianity will fail for this reason alone.
More significantly, the Declaration does not represent the law of the land as it came before the Constitution. The Declaration aimed at announcing their separation from Great Britain and listed the various grievances with the "thirteen united States of America." The grievances against Great Britain no longer hold, and we have more than thirteen states. Today, the Declaration represents an important historical document about rebellious intentions against Great Britain at a time before the formation of our independent government. Although the Declaration may have influential power, it may inspire the lofty thoughts of poets, and judges may mention it in their summations, it holds no legal power today. Our presidents, judges and policemen must take an oath to uphold the Constitution, but never to the Declaration of Independence.

Of course the Declaration depicts a great political document, as it aimed at a future government upheld by citizens instead of a religious monarchy. It observed that all men "are created equal" meaning that we all come inborn with the abilities of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That "to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men." The Declaration says nothing about our rights secured by Christianity, nor does it imply anything about a Christian foundation.

Conclusion

The Framers derived an independent government out of Enlightenment thinking against the grievances caused by Great Britain. Our Founders paid little heed to political beliefs about Christianity. The 1st Amendment stands as the bulkhead against an establishment of religion and at the same time insures the free expression of any belief. The Treaty of Tripoli, an instrument of the Constitution, clearly stated our non-Christian foundation. We inherited common law from Great Britain

You can delude yourself all you want but history is what it is and all the rewriting done cannot change what these men had in mind when framing our great nation and to have people like John McCain trying to tear it down by injected myths and monsters into is a disgrace. I have never in my life been more upset with a politician than I am right now…SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!!!

Our Declaration uses God but does NOT say any religion connected with it.

If you ask me….most of the people in our jails are Christian….!!!!

He has lost my vote!!

People, lets not fool ourselves here this country is infested with evangelicals eating at our individual rights as free people. Most believe that if you don't believe as they do then you don't belong. Our Air Force Academy is infested with evangelicals in high places, Blackwater is owned and operated by evangelicals these people are DANGEROUS to free minded people they are as dangerous as Osama-Bin-Laden or Hezbollah, or Hamas. Anytime you have people like this inject their dogma it can only lead to more chaos, murder and lies…

Why is the headline for this story "I would vote for a Muslim president," when the point of McCain's comments seemed to be that he would favor a Christian president because he shares that religion, and believes that it is more in line with the country's principles? Your headline puts an overly positive spin on a very divisive and revealing comment.

I hope John McCain actually reads some of this and learns what the country he is trying to lead is really all about and not just his twisted sense of reality….

McCain is a complete phony. His sudden promotion of the U.S. as a Christian nation needing a Christian president is total pandering for votes. Also, his views on the foundation of this country are more wrong than not. While many Founders were Christian, they went out of their way to have a wall between religion and government, despite personal views. One of our country's greatest failures is in cowtowing to the religious right.

I've been planning to vote for Fred Thompson, but now that McCain has established himself as a loyal and faithful Christian, I might consider voting for him instead! This country is in desperate need of a moral makeover, and a President who respects God and The Bible is a President who can make that happen!

Is he out of his mind?

I guess he'll vote for Obama then!

You state that religion is an important part of every society? Whos society? And most important you don't state WHY its important. Just more rhetoric from fools like yourself…I have damn good reason to be anti-religious as you put it. Its dangerous to the nt degree. It also protects me from your dogma.

CNN has titled the article "McCain: I would vote for Muslim president".

That particular comment is a small note in the article, and further followed by the comment "if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values."

So what's the big deal?

Does CNN even know what's news worthy anymore? Do they even care about the blatant racism they portray in articles like this? If CNN had simply been reporting on an interview, shouldn't the article have been titled with something along the lines of "McCain: I would prefer a Christian president", which is what most of the article is about.

Instead of reporting the news, it's more important for CNN to draw attention to an article by taking advantage of people's racist beliefs.

I'd love to know how McCain can categorize the principles our country was founded on as 'Christian,' when most of the founders were deists. I'd also like to hear him explain how those principals are inherently Christian, rather than Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or agnostic. His biased remarks have just lost him my potential vote.

TO ED IN ELLENVILLE, yes, I signed up for e-mail and I will support the Democractic party. I will go back to the site later and see what else I can do. I'm with you 100%.

Regarding: McCain: I would vote for Muslim president

The title is very misleading. It will
be posted in many places, many people
will see just that. This will hurt McCain.
On the other hand, the contents of the
interview, which will be not read by
many, makes clear and good points for him.
This is unfair.

If McCain thinks this is a "christian" nation, then his education is incomplete or selective; and saying he'd vote for a Muslim is right up there with "a few of my best friends are black…."

Hey, CNN, the headline of this article, rather than "McCain: I would vote for a Muslim president," should be, "McCain: Only Christians are qualified to be president."
Just a thought.

ED IN ELLENVILLE, I will help the Democrats. I am 100% with you. I've signed up for e mail and later I will see what else I can do. CNN, this is the second time I posted this. Please leave it on.

READ the CONSITUTION: Article VI "…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" To Senator Mc Cain and those who insist we are a Christian Nation, I say "are you the same folks who want the 10 Commandments of MOSES posted in our courts??" Instead of talking about chrisitan values we should be living them, if we truly believe we are a "Christian Nation" Ask your selves "Who would Jesus bomb?

Steve -
You've latched onto two of the 39 that signed. Check out the rest of them.

Here’s a few quick quotes form some of them (we’ll start off with the very Madison you claim was such an atheist):

James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement, "We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

No matter how someone chooses to interpret Madison's intent (something I won't try to do here, but rather will rely on the man's actual words alone), the fact remains that his reference to the Biblical Ten Commandments makes a clear and concise case for the inclusion of not only religion, but Christianity specifically in the creation of this nation.

I suggest John Adams by David McCullough. It is not a 'Christian' book and the author makes no claim concerning his religious beliefs. He works hard to state the facts as they are available. Read this telling portrayal of the creation of our nation, cross reference it with the list of resources used to compile the biography and I don't think you'll be able to make the case that the Constitution was drafted by a majority of atheists. It's quite the contrary.

The founding fathers never meant to remove religion from the landscape of our society. They meant to insure that all those who are so willing can freely practice their religion of choice (which includes atheists, since the mere belief in the absence of God is in fact by definition a religious belief).

Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies. People often reference the separation of church and state. The Constitution you're referring to was drafted and signed by 52 Christians and three individuals who did not identify themselves as Christians.

I am amazed by comments here. Gentleman Steve must move to UK or Canada where you can talk this way. We are in America. Christianity is prime importance. Osama wants all Americans to become muslims and those who comment here want to embrace it. I have lived in the Middle East for twenty five years. Muslims want to kill non-muslims so you can either be alive by becoming muslim or get killed. My friends, wake-up before it is too late.

Good posts Steve! I wish those principles were emphasized more in public schools. I don't think that most "devout" followers are really well informed.

Thank you Laurinda,I appreciate your help.

McCain is old news, and also it is unfortunate that he wants to vote based on faith and values; you shouldnt feel bad to vote for a non-Christian and vice versa; the title is misleading, it only hurt him.

Candidates should respond to those "gotcha" questions by saying that religion is irrelevant. The issue is whether the candidate will support the Constitution of the United States. Of course, most of the candidates won't, and most of the reporters have never read the document, so I'm not very optimistic about the nation's future.

To those of you who responded to this McCain article by reminding everyone that the Constitution says nothing about Christianity, I hope you'll also remember that the document also says niothing about national health care, federal income taxes, Social Security, and thousands of other federal schemes that we do not need and cannot afford. As for me, I would like nothing more than to have a candidate who follows the Founding Fathers more than he or she does the PACs and the polls.

To all of you who are reminding us that the Constituion says nothing about Christianity, I hope you will remember that the document also says nothing about national health care, federal income taxes, Social Security, or the thousands of other programs we neithe need or can afford. I'd like nothing more than a candidate who follows the Founding Fathers more than he or she follows the PACs and the polls.

There is nothing in the secular document known as the United States Constitution that mentions God, Jesus, or Christ.

To Steve, Las Vegas:

You can persuade people to stop insisting that America was founded on Christian values but you can't deny history that it really was. Rather than you asked people to go and do research, why don't you do it by yourself and find the truth to convince yourself that it is true America was founded by the acknowledgement of God.

You might have an excuse that CNN didn't post it but why should we trust you if also never trust facts and history (don't talk about trust to God, I am sure you must be never trust God). The evils will always try to the destroy the truth but the truth will be never destroyed.

McCain should review his U.S. history.

You can find countless comments by the likes of George Washington and most notably Thomas Jefferson who confirm that this country was in fact not founded as a "Christian" nation.

It never ceases to gall me the way people continue to bandy about this myth in trying to rationalize the alarming influence of religion over politics.

Read Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" if you don't believe me. The evidence is plain as day.

Who on Earth put in the mind of McCain the idea that his nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values? It was founded by people deeply influenced by French enlightenment ideas-the ideas of the separation of State and Church, of the separation of the powers, the rule of secular, not religious, law, and democracy. Democracy is certainly not a Christian value! This cannot be stressed enough. Churches are not democratic themselves, and they certainly love meddling in the secular affairs of Democratic governments. In fact, nothing has reduced the power of the Church more than the Enlightenment, and all religious leaders, no matter their faith, would love nothing more than to roll it back. All modern "evils", if one were to listen to the Christian Churches, are due to the (exaggerated) freedoms brought by the Enlightenment…
Thus, to say that "the greatest experiment in the history of mankind" is about religion is to not have understood anything about the United States of America at all. Same that such an important candidate has such serious misconceptions.

After all we all hate to admit it. But in one form or another reality kicks in and it is done at a sub conscious level at varying degrees of preference.
Will Religion play a role in your selection of a presidential candidate? http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=613

ANOTHER reason I wouldn't vote for McCain!

Exactly what Christian principles was it founded on, John? Did that brotherly love and peace for all extend to em, let's say the native Indians or maybe the slaves?

Why is this news? A muslim, a homosexual, an african american; does it really matter if they have the credentials to lead and take charge of a country that is not exactly on the right track? I don't understand why this is even a reportable matter.

I am an atheist unaffiliated with any political party and McCain is my top choice. I do think that "Christian principles" is unfortunate phrasing, but recognize political constraints, and take his use of the phrase to mean the moral and cultural tradition of the founders. As he corrected, non-Christians can share the same kind of morality (or best Christian candidates), and as he might admit in private, morality can derive from reason or other religious traditions. I urge people to charitably look to what he means rather than get caught up in superficial wording such as "Christian principles." That written, I would be surprised if any candidate answered much differently. As an office holder, I think it clear that McCain is willing to break from convention and celebrate those who think differently.

It's weird that CNN saw fit to title this post "McCain: I would vote for Muslim president."

'How tolerant of him!' one might say without actually reading the article. But then you read the first three paragraphs and…what? This guy, in fact, completely discriminates on the basis of religion! For CNN to frame it in the way that they have indicates that they see McCain as having deigned to a very low level to even consider voting for a Muslim. Jeers to McCain for his bigotry and to CNN for masking it.

fix the headline its misleading.
john mccain has served his country and has been a senator with a great record. no other presendential candidate can say that for themselves. love it or leave it and serve your country.

This is a classic example of the absurdity of "political correctness."
Why shouldn't a candidate–or anyone, for that matter–be able to state his preference without criticism?
I long for the honesty of Harry Truman!

SURE AND THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY VOTE- GET REAL FOLKS, THE MUSLIM FOLKS SEEM
IN THIS COUNTRY AT LEAST IS TO SAY NOT
ONE IODA OF DISSENT TO THE RADICALS,
IF THAT IS NOT TRUE,CNN AND OTHERS HAVE NOT DONE THEIR JOBS. IF THEY ARE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION THEN THEY ARE ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. TELL ME I AM
AM WRONG! THEN TELL ME MORE———-

A better headline would be "Flipflopper McCain full of it again."

In 1797, six years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the United States government signed a treaty with the Muslim nation of Tripoli that contained the following statement (numbered Article 11 in the treaty):

"As the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the law, religion or tranquility of Musselmen; and as the states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mohometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever produce an interruption of harmony existing between the two countries."

This explicitly states that WE WERE NOT FOUNDED AS A CHRISTIAN NATION. Stop letting yourself be controlled. Don't believe something because you're told to. Get the facts for yourself.

The old boy is trying his damndest to tip-toe the mine field between the crazy american evengelicals and his own thoughts.
It's hopeless. The Republican party is not for him.

Those who believe in God kill, steal, rob,and torture just like killers, thieves, robbers and torturers who believe in Allah. And they both do no worse or better than those who believe in the stars as animals, or the oceans as rulers or crickets as their ancestors. I don't trust any of them. Their gods or whatever always say "I am the most important one of all and what I say goes and you have to do what I say and if you don't your soul is damned to hell." These invisible beings of superior power and intellect refuse to show themselves and still demand belief. That belief is founded on books written in foreign languages, held in foreign lands, selectively assembled by foreign powers and is so full of inconsistencies, incoherencies, contradictions and confabulations we can't begin to defend it. And a politician dares to DEMAND that we pay a particular view of God/Allah/Cricket homage as the true belief and foundation of all America? Some of these nations believe in a God they cannot see, but do not believe in gays because they cannot see them. Oh, I don't believe in hell and I don't believe in Satan. Now who am I going to vote for? All that's left is a candidate who does not run.

I sure as hell don't live in a Christian nation. This Jew doesn't care for politicians talking about me like a second class citizen. If it weren't for the incredible diversity of faiths in our country, we would be a much, much more boring nation. Diversity is our strength, McCain ought to apologize for his bigoted remarks.

For those of you who claim that Americas was not founded by Christianity principles, how about we do this: We break America apart, half for all the Christians and the other half for all of you the atheists, muslims, gays, lesbians, and all other religions. Let's start together and see which one will grow faster. To be sure I'm telling you fellows, the one with Christianity values will grow faster because they have love to each other, willing to sacrifice to each other, trust to each other, never suspect to each other because we have God which is Jesus as our main leader who will lead with love, sacrifice and compassion.

And the other half with all the evils, trust me it's gonna be destroyed by themselves because what you all the non-believers have in mind are only hate, suspicion, selfishness, anger, and all other evil ones.

If that's what you all the non-believers want, let's do that: Fall Apart. We the Christians would be very happy to live among other pure Christians so that we can grow together in a such peacefully way. God bless you, my friends.

Dan, "gays and lesbians" are not a religion.
I'm a christian, but I wouldn't want to be on "your" side if that lind of "christianity" is based on hate.
Wait a minute, I think I'm describing modern American Republicanism, a heretical branch of "christianity".

I guess he'll vote for Obama then!
Posted By Metin, Newport Beach, CA : September 30, 2007 10:56 am

————-

Are you stupid? Obama is Christian. How ignorant do you have to be to assume someone's Muslim simply because his name is Barack Hussein Obama. Do some research first, you idiot

Aaron of Stanwood, WA
Unless I missed something, the Ten Commandments were handed out to Moses in the book of Exodus, long before Christ arrived on the scene, which would make them Jewish doctrine - NOT Christian.

wow,what a bunch of blowhards…Good thing God doth have a sense of humor

Aaron of Stanwood, WA
Unless I missed something, the Ten Commandments were handed out to Moses in the book of Exodus, long before Christ arrived on the scene, which would make them Jewish doctrine - NOT Christian.

Posted By Anna, Woodbridge, VA : September 30, 2007 5:58 pm

Anna and Aaarin, something to think about:
If George Dubyah Bush had received the 10 Commandments instead of Moses, he would've appended a "signing statement" to the effect that they did not apply to him. LOL

Why do the right wing christians (republicans) want America to be a theocracy like right wing Muslims do in Iran or Afghanistan? It's Osama bin Laden's dream.

Surely you can't be serious!

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

Talk about spin! This article takes Sen. McCain's comment completely out of context. Also, the comments are a disgraceful (yet convenient) platform to attack Christians. You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Nobody is forcing Christianity upon you, and yet you feel the need to attack us at every opportunity. THIS is why Christians do not relate to modern liberalism.

If people said the same things about Muslims that you do about Christians, there would be riots, and ALL of you would come to their rescue with protests — you lying sacs of scum.

This country was not founded on Judeo Christian values. Please read the Declaration of Independence, which is the founding document of our society, and immediately you will find: THE LAWS OF NATURE AND OF NATURE’S GODS written in stone, til the boy comes for his sword.

Bridges collapsing, snow in the Spring,
scoundrels among us, riddle-ing stings,
look over there while we steal your cash
murder your brothers and brothel the past.

But the story to carry was kept quite secret,
they allied for centuries in silence to speak it
a code among men, and honor to stall,
willing to die, and swords for the small.

Complete idiot. The US was founded by extraordinarily enlightened people, probably first time in history a country was founded not on religion; first successful secular society.
Many founders are considered agnostics (at that time! - when science only made first steps!).
And now we have reverse selection: morons come on top - and made such statements (and McCain is not stupidest of them!)

"If people said the same things about Muslims that you do about Christians, there would be riots, and ALL of you would come to their rescue with protests — you lying sacs of scum."

Posted By Brent : September 30, 2007 11:16 pm

LOL, one of the problems here is that many of the politically active "christians" in America don't sound like real christians.
They call themselves christians, like republican torture enablers and apologists, haters of blacks and all muslims (by lumping them all together with the 9-11 perpetrators) but if they met Jesus walking the earth today, they'd cuss him out as a "liberal" and one of the "sacs of scum" to hate.

This has turned out to be an entertaining thread.

We have Christians calling atheism a "religion." My friends, it is not — by definition, atheism is the very lack of a religion. When you become atheist then you can tell me what atheism is.

We have people claiming that Christians are being "attacked." Criticism and attacks are not the same thing. And, for the record, I will criticize all religions equally. Christianity often gets singled out simply because it happens to be the most prominent, evangelical, and influential faith in America.

We have seen many compelling historical quotations that address the founding principles of our nation. I won't deny that plenty of the founding fathers were indeed Christians. But those would have been the odds, no? Really, I think the Treaty of Tripoli provides more solid insight into the matter of America and religion than do quotes from Jefferson or Henry — that was, after all, an official government document ratified by the congress and signed by the president, and fast on the heels of our nation's birth at that.

Finally we have posters who unabashedly claim that we are and should be a nation of, by and for Christians, period. That those who say otherwise should move to Canada. That Christians should have their own nation, insulated from all the gays and Muslims. It is suggested, ironically, that only then can they practice the love of fellow humans that is so central to the Christian way of life. Folks, does this not qualify as a theocracy? I have no doubt that there are many, many on the Christian right who would jump at the chance to establish Christianity as the official state religion. Many have at the least endorsed a de facto move to this effect. Dangerous ground. So much for the first amendment.

He's lying.

I honestly don't understand where this entire "Judeo-Christian America" thing comes from. So many people try to make an argument that the USA was founded on "a fundamental belief in God," but if you open any history book it immediately becomes apparent it was founded on a fundamental belief in DEMOCRACY.

In all his bigotry and all his pandering to the religious right, he got the point across- he also is willing to blur the lines that separate church and state. What a difference 4 years makes! There is certainly no way that I would vote for you now.

[...] – CNN Political Desk Editor Jamie Crawford [...]

Read your history. This nation was not founded on Christian principles, but the principles of individual liberty.

People have got to get it through their heads that one does not have to be a Christian to be a moral person. I'm more inclined to think that some of the things that people do, say, and believe in the name of Christ would draw rebuke from the Founder of that religion.

Frankly, I think this nation would be better served if we paid less attention to what God each candidate prays to. I certainly can't see where it has made a difference in the decision-making of the current occupant of the White House.

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, except (fill in your prejudices here)."

Well, Mr McCain, that is just one of the reasons I won't vote for you as President. On another note, it's the amnesty / border issue stupid!

On of the founding principles of our nation was that we were a nation where anyone could worship as they saw fit. There was no national church, the references to God were made to God, identifiying no one God inparticular.

The Republican Party likes to call itself the Party of Lincoln, but if you check your history books you will find that Lincoln was one of two Presidents that DID NOT claim a religious affilation. When asked when he would join a church, Lincoln responded when he found one that practises what it preaches.

While I disgree with the good Senator McCain on many matters, and feel that he is past his time, one issue that he attempts to get across that I must gree with him on, dispite what appears at times his inability or his desire not to just come out and say it, religion has no place in politics. Yes I would vote for a Muslim for President, but I am more in line to vote for someone that shares my personnal values. Well, I hold that if relgion was placed where it should be, out side the political arena and if the canidates simply talked the issues we would discover the canidate that best represents our ideals, religious neutral.

We can not say that we are a Christain nation because our founding fathers were Christian. Our founders fleed Europe to seek their fortunes in a new land where they could pratice their religion as they saw fit. Now in many instances this meant that those seeking freedom were persecuted by those very people seeking religious freedom before them, but that did not kill the ideal this nation was founded upon. But no where within the founding documents does it proclaim that America is a "Christain" nation, it does use the word God so that all may view it in their own eyes.

You want religion go to church. Keep it out of politics. For me the quickest way not to get my vote is to wear ones religion on ones sleeve rather than stand upon ones views on the issues. If you desire a religious state there are a couple in the world today, have at it.

I freak out every time I hear "America is a Christian nation." The USA is a FREE nation, NOT a Christian nation.