I’ve previously made known my stance on how the religion of a major election candidate should be treated. My goal now is to document where each major candidate stands on religion in the upcoming presidential election. This is not an exercise in reading between the lines. I am not talking about stances on abortion or gay marriage, strictly about religion. Hopefully there will be an election in my lifetime where this isn’t required knowledge before voting, but in today’s political (and religious) climate, it is required knowledge.

The following is Part 6 of a multi-part series on each candidates religious views, and how they fit into politics.

Fred Thompson - Church of Christ

Quotes:

“For Americans, these are found in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. They include a recognition of God and the fact there are certain rights that come from Him and not the government.”

“Many federal judges seem intent on eliminating God from the public schools and the public square in ways that would astound our founding fathers. We never know when a five to four Supreme Court decision will uphold them. They ignore the fact that the founders were protecting the church from the state and not the other way around.”

Source

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“I attend church when I’m in Tennessee. I’m in McLean right now. I don’t attend regularly when I’m up there.”

“I know that I’m right with God and the people I love, it’s just the way I am not to talk about some of these things.”

Source

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On his first act as President: “…go into the Oval Office, close the door and pray for the wisdom to do the right thing.”

Source

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“As Jefferson spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, our basic rights come from God, not from government, and that among these inalienable rights is the right to liberty. We must allow individuals to lead their lives with minimal government interference.”

Source

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More on Thompson and religion:

Fred Thompson Democrats?

Is Fred Thompson a Member of the Church of Christ?

Beliefnet.com’s God-O-Meter

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Summary:

I get the impression that Fred Thompson wants to say he is a Christian because he knows that he needs to be to be President. Of all of the Republican candidates, he strikes me as least likely to invoke God for political purposes. Both Thompson and Rudy Giuliani seem to be only as religious as they need to be to win votes.

Thompson claims to be a member of the Church of Christ, but admits that he is not much for practicing his religion. The more he is pressed on religion, the more likely he will be to embrace what roots he may have, if only to pander to the religious wing of the Republican party.

More than once, Thompson has referenced the founding fathers and their religious beliefs, though each time either out of context or wrong. He said that Jefferson spelled out that our basic rights come from God rather than government, but that is completely out of context, knowing what Jefferson’s religious views were. Like many of the founders, Jefferson was a deist, believing in “a” creator or force, but not necessarily God as it is understood in modern religious discussions.

He also claims that the founding fathers would cringe at some of the rulings made by the courts through the years, protecting the separation of church and state. His statement that “they ignore the fact that the founders were protecting the church from the state and not the other way around,” is just false. The founders wanted protection both ways. They wanted the government protected from the church as much or more than the other way around. The church’s rise in England is what led to the formation of the United States, and the founders wanted to protect this nation from the evils that churches can instill upon a state.

In my opinion, Thompson means no harm with his religious beliefs, and is likely no threat to start using God to pass bills if elected. His views on where religion fits into this nation’s framework scare me though. I do feel that if he were to be elected, he could easily be manipulated by the religious powers in the Republican party to act on their behalf, and not see what he is doing may be wrong.

Overall, I feel that Thompson’s religious views are harmless, but that if he becomes more outspoken on religion, then he should be watched. If he starts pandering to the religious right, it is not because he believes it, it’s just politics. And that is just as dangerous as truly believing it.

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This page will be continuously updated with new quotes, or news items to provide the most accurate portrait of Thompson’s religious viewpoints.

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