CNN

Joseph Dearing,

May God Bless your life and hallelujah. I was jumping for joy when I saw the news with a man standing up for the word of God.

Thomas O'Berg
Los Angeles

"And I mean specifically, this book"

Mr. Dearing never actually said that the book he was holding was a Bible. Haven't any of the candidates ever heard the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover."? When I heard him say "specifically", I took it literally. It's like the riddle that starts out "As I was going to Saint Ives, I met a man with seven wives". Most people get that one wrong too. I'm surprised to see all of that collective brain power in one place and nobody asking "How do we know that's really a Bible?"

this question should not have been asked and should not have been answered....it is nobodys business what anybodys, including presidential candidates, views on religion are. do you find a question regarding your religion on any goverment applications ? this is question that would not have been asked about any other sacred book other than the christian bible. this nut that asked it is either a pro choice or pro life nut trying to prove a point. the candidates should have said that their belief is a private matter that they do not want to share with anyone. if elected pres they will uphold the constituion and the laws of the contry regardless of their religious beliefs.

Man's relationship, or lack thereof, with (any) God and a subsequent moral code of conduct is fundamental to the human condition. Apparently a lot of us come to this question with his/her own bias and perspective. As the aspiring President of the nation it is totally fair to ask the question and to expect an "honest" answer from each candidate. Regardless of your bias, there is no other way to judge the candidates' position or honesty in answering it. What I believe is my business, what a Presidential candidate believes is all our business regardless of bias. To believe otherwise is to be blind. Unfortunately, very few of these candidates gave us honest answers, only the answers they thought we wanted to hear or answers that were vague enough to not be answers at all. I wonder what the Democrat candidates' answers would have been and if they would have been more satisfying?

Everyone seems to be convinced that Joseph Dearing was asking this from the point of view of a fundamentalist. Am I the only one that saw a hint of cynicism in his eyes? I felt that maybe the real question was "do you [feel that the fundamentalist vote is important enough to say that you] believe every word in this book?"

If I'm right, then it was a challenging question fit to be posed to a bunch of presidential hopefuls (church and state notwithstanding).

Of course, if I'm wrong, then I side with others on this thread in cringing slightly.

We're electing the President of the United States! When should "the Bible" ever be involved in the process?! I know there's a fuzzy line when morals and religion are crossed, but that was just ridiculous! What kind of question is this for a candidate? What does it matter what his opinion of the Bible is. What does he think of the Tora, the Qur'an, or the teachings of Bhudda?

I have no problems if someone's a minister, a mormon, or anything else, those are non-issues when it comes to the presidency. Moral standing, international policy, honesty, standing by the American way, but they're devotion to Christianity is a slap in the face.

Get religion back out of politics! I'm Christian, I'm republican, and if there's a candidate who tries to stand on a religious platform, I will not be voting for them.

Charlette Glass, what alternate universe are you living in? Most of the Founding Fathers were deists and agnostics. And pretty much every president we've had was a Christian in some way.

These questions were selected to make the republicans look foolish, plan and simple.

Lets look at two other similar questions that CNN has picked.

Do you beleive in evolution?

Do you consider Carl Rove a friend?

It is a stretch to actually connect either of those to any qualification for President. They are meant to just make them look bad.

Sadly it seems CNN is pretty much an unoffical arm of the Democrats campaigns!

I agree with everyone who says that this question violates separation of church and state. It may be important for some people what religion someone is affiliated with, but to me it's about the issues and it should be about the issues. CNN could've used the time spent answering this question by giving equal time to the lesser candidates that received absolutely no time (ie Ron Paul).

The right question would have been: did you read the Bible? Not do you believe every word. That's a stupid question. And if you did read the Bible and the Koran and supposedly many other books from God you will be able to tell they are all pretty much the same story! Idiot!

Romney was singled out by Anderson Cooper. After giving his answer, Anderson would not move on, but questioned him!?! What more did Anderson want him to say? Maybe something like "I believe America was chosen by God, to be a 'promise land,' and The Constitution is a glorious banner founded in the wisdom of God. Furthermore, it is our duty of citizens of this great nation to honor, preserve and defend it!" - Hows that Cooper!

Huckabee did a great job, but any minister could make a tear jerk with that.

The ENTIRE platform should of answered it though.

Everyone knows Rudy doesn't, why even bother with him.

CNN tried to screw Romney because they cornered him in with that one. I feel bad for him.

Do you believe every word in the Dictionary, or a history text?

Translation creates confusion of reality, the Grimms fairy tales are based on a once reality as well.

We are talking about religon BECAUSE it is our constitutionl right to be able to talk and practice religon NOT the other way around. By the way even the Lakota believed in a higher power.

This is a democracy not a theocracy.

FOR ALL OF YOU THAT SAY WAIT ITS WRONG TO BRING UP THE BIBLE, BECAUSE IT MADE THEM LOOK LIKE IDIOTS TO BELIEVE EVERYTHING IN A BOOK THAT WAS OVER 2 THOUSAND YRS OLD THATS WHY BUT!!! IF ONE SAID THEY WERE ATHEIST YOU WOULD BE CRYING TO MOTHER TERESA RIGHT NOW!!!

Listen, if you believed everything in the Bible, you would have to stone people who worked on the Sabbath, stone your daughter if she is found not to be a virgin on her wedding night, stone your sons and daughters if they take up atheism or another religion. I don't know if we have enough stones in America to cover all the ridiculous laws of the Bible.

Seriously though, keep religion out of politics. You know what a society looks like when the fundamentalists take over? Just take a look at Iran, Saudi Arabia (who recently decided to punish the victim of a gang rape), and Sudan (40 lashes for naming a teddy bear Mohammad).

This country was not founded on Christian beliefs or in a belief in God. Native American Indians were here first.

They fumbled on this one, ...wanted to stay with the god vote but did not want seem too stupid to believe everything in the bible, what bs.

Why are we allowing discussion of religious beliefs? Why does it matter whether a candidate believes in the bible? This is just wrong!! Religion has no place whatsoever in this debate or in this election or in who we choose to be president. It's insulting.

I do believe in the Bible, maybe not every single word as the question posed, but the Bible does set basic standards, as does the Koran and several other religious texts. At the same time I have to wonder why the American public places some much emphasis on the religious background and character of our elected officials while demanding the separation of church and state in any context.

This guy looks like one of those cult leader dudes. I hope somebody is keeping an eye on him so we don't hear about a story on the news anytime soon about a bunch of people killing themselves to try to ride a comet.

If any of these guys are dumb enough to think the world was made in 6 days, or 1/2 the crap in that book, its no suprise they were dumb enough to believe or pretend to believe in WMD in Iraq, and none of them have any business holding the key to the weapons of armegedeon as Commander in Cheif

Have trust and believe.

In case you people haven't noticed, religion is responsible for about 90% of the world's problems right now. It is not atheists who are killing our troops and flying planes into our buildings. America must be very careful not to go down the same path.

Remember those books were written over a thousand years ago – when there was little developed civilization or law, and its purpose was to scare people into line. Put the book down, especially if it tells you that it is OK to kill others in the name of your "god".

Does separation of church and state mean anything these days? This issue does not belong in this debate; does not belong in a president's campaign; does not belong in our government. People who believe in other books of faith are offended by the representation of only one religion in this political race.

Everyone skirted the question execpt Huckabee.

NO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE CAN BELIEVE EVERY WORD IN THE BIBLE IF HE SAYS HE IS PRO LIFE AND THEN TURN AROUND AND SAYS HE SUPPORTS THE DEATH PENALTY.

I don't know where Joseph Dearing was coming from when he asked this question, but I am disturbed by the notion that a person naive enough to believe every word of the bible could be seriously considered as a candidate for the most powerful job on the planet. Mythology, superstitious prophecy, and the legal code of an ancient society of xenophobes should NOT be guiding the executive branch (or any other branch of our government.) Shall we start stoning rape victims to death, or reinstitute slavery? It is right there in Leviticus

I feet the candidates answered it very well. The United States was founded and built on the belief in God and I feel that it's very important to have a President that also believes in God. It's time that God is brought back into many facets of life in the United States.

What a question that really showed the candidates' differences. So much was said–not just in their words–but in their phrasing, body language, and comfortability. It is obvious who has a real understanding of what the Bible is about and it is also obvious who does not want to make a definitive statement on it.

Joseph Dearing is obviously an undereducated person with extremists ideas. Extremists Christians are a small minority in our country, and they are very similar to extremists Muslims... and just as dangerous! I am a registered Democrat. I will not be voting for any of these Republican candidates, but I was impressed with Guiliana's answer. He put into context the allegorical nature of the Christian Bible. Huckabee's response was adequate as well.

Romney just started.

Why is this debate couched in Religion? Who picks these questions? Religion ios at the base of many social problems we face. Is this a religous debate or is it supposed to be about governement?

They didn't let ron paul answer this question even though it was supposed to be for everyone.

Why haven't the Candidates been asked any of the questions voted on as the top ten yet? This is complete bs. Why even ask people to vote on the questions if they are going to hand pick ones they want to ask. Complete false advertisement. I love how you guys tried to catch Ron Paul up in the "conspiracy issue". In fact these organizations are completely real!!

this guy and the guy with the What would Jesus do question are creepy fundamentalists and not representive of very many Americans.

huckabee's response was right on. if you understand everything in the Good Book, your God is too small. that is one of the most genuinely honest answers on Biblical interpretation i have ever heard from ANY politician. my respect for him just skyrocketed.