To many people, religion is a key ingredient in what makes a good president or government. In the United States, many mistakenly feel that this is a Christian nation, and should be governed as such. Since that’s not the case, and the Constitution is clear about a separation between church and state, each candidate for public office needs to be examined as to how they will let their religion influence or not influence their decision making, as well as the appointments they make.

When primary season began, I put together a compilation of each candidates stances on religion, in their own words. As the final candidates selected their vice-presidential candidates, I added them to the list. Each candidate also received a summary, based on their quotes, as to where they stand on religion and the separation of church and state.

Barack Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim. Clearly, during this election, the United States made it clear that at no time soon will they be ready for a Muslim president. Woman, yes. Black man, yes. Muslim, absolutely not. I’d imagine a candidate would receive the same treatment if he were an “alleged” atheist. But Obama is a Christian, to be sure.

Early in the primaries, Obama played to the Christian part of this country, and professed his faith quite clearly. As the scandals with Rev. Jeremiah Wright became more popular, he backed away from invoking his faith so often. While he doesn’t seem to be a man who will govern God-free, he is not expected to be a friend of secular America.

But not appeasing secularists or atheists is fine with me, as long as he’s not going out of his way to play to the religious groups of America. I think Obama is a genuinely religious man, but I believe for him it’s as much about political gain as it is his own beliefs when it comes to using God in the public eye.

Obama will likely keep America on the same path to more faith-based initiatives, but will likely be appointing judges that govern more secularly. I think the religious and non-religious alike will see minimal differences in the next four or eight years in terms of religion in government.

His running mate, Joe Biden, is a very religious person. But Biden has a track record that is very strong that he will not allow his religious beliefs to dictate his legislate. I honestly believe that Biden is a friend of secularists, despite his strong religious beliefs.

John McCain, I think that he shouldn’t be something to fear for a secularist. But if he wins this election, it’s going to be because of the support he gets from the religious right. For that, he may have some favors he owes in the White House. Put that with his extremely religious running mate, and we may have a recipe for a whole lot of religion in the next four to eight years.

Like Biden, McCain has a history of being fair to the religious and non-religious, but his change of style in the last year was not what I was looking for in the next president.

Sarah Palin is alarmingly religious. She runs with the wrong kind of crowd in the religious world, and is quite extreme in her views. In my mind, she is someone that America can’t have in a powerful federal office.

Having said that, Palin governed very much by the book as Alaska’s governor. She vetoed bills that she agreed with that went along with her beliefs because they were unconstitutional. But a vote for McCain in this election may be a vote for Palin in ’12 or ’16. Is that what this country wants?

One question you have to ask with regard to Palin’s possible future run for the presidency is whether or not now is the right time to vote against her. Realistically, the vice-president is a relatively harmless position. Other than Dick Cheney, you have to go back some time before you find a VP that was seriously influential. For that reason, you could decide that the time to make Palin not the president is when she runs, not now.

Palin should never become president, but if you lean towards McCain on most of his politics, Palin probably should not be the reason you vote against him. You can vote against Palin in the primaries if and when she runs for president.

I think there are positives and negatives for both parties when it comes to religion in this election. Neither party’s candidate is willing to take a stand against the influence of religion in government, and until that happens, it really doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, both parties are pandering to the religious population of this country, and more importantly, their money. For that reason, neither side wants to upset them.

In this election, I think you can vote on politics and other matters, since I don’t think it much matters who is president when it comes to separation of church and state.

But if you’re still on the fence, and religion is the final vote, I’d probably say that the Obama/Biden ticket runs slightly less of a risk than the McCain/Palin ticket when it comes to religious freedom.

**This is not an endorsement of Barack Obama, just an opinion on religious freedom in the next four years.**

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