The question Americans should ask is not whether a candidate is affiliated with a particular faith but rather whether that candidate's faith makes it more likely he or she will support policies that align with their values.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's important to ask candidates about their beliefs, in part because politicians frequently exploit religious faith - often with the idea that voters will be more likely to unthinkingly accept certain political positions so long as they arise from religious belief.
A candidate's faith is not the only consideration, but should be a major consideration in electing the president of the United States.
I have come to the conclusion that while a candidate's faith matters, what's most important is how he or she applies that faith.
Any candidate who claims his religion has no influence on his decisions is either a dishonest politician or a shallow follower of his faith.
For Ben Carson, Donald Trump, or any other Republican politician to suggest that someone of any faith is unfit for office is out of touch with who we are as a people.
The question is not whether personal spiritual beliefs shape a politician's values and policies, but what spiritual beliefs mold those values and policies.
Our government should be entirely and purely secular. The religious views of a candidate should be kept entirely out of sight.
I think that we are at a point in our country where we're trying to decide what role should religion play in the political arena.
Politicians read the polls that show 85 or 90 percent of the voters profess a belief in God, so they identify themselves with religion, often only to the degree necessary to reach the constituency they are targeting.
I would suggest that faith is everyone's business. The advance or decline of faith is so intimately connected to the welfare of a society that it should be of particular interest to a politician.