Obama vs. McCain: Who Loves Jesus the Mostathon '08

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the McCain/Obama "I'm more Christian than you" faceoff? Actually, I really am very interested in seeing this. My interest in the presidents extends to their faiths. The faiths of our presidents intrigues me greatly, but it has absolutely no bearing in my decision on which candidate I will vote to elect as our Commander-in-Chief.

When a very popular email was circulating that purported that Obama was secretly a Muslim who may be the anti-Christ, I realized two things:

1. Our Nation is full of idiots who have somehow figured out how to hit the "forward" button.
2. Religion really is the main criteria to become President of the United States.
   

My roommate Eric was the first person to bring this email to my attention. He had forwarded it to me at work, so that we may share in laughing at its absurdity. Eric had received it from someone he knew. When Eric replied to the sender with the comment, "this is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever read," the sender fired back with "What is so ridiculous about it?"

The most ridiculous thing that I found in the email was that it claimed that every piece of information in the email was fact and could be verified at http://www.snopes.com/. It even went as far as to give the link. I clicked on the link and snopes.com actually rebutted the email almost entirely.

I brought up the absurdity of the email to other people and was not met with the same agreement that I found with my roommate. Many people believed that Obama is Muslim. In fact, the Pew Research Center recently found that 12% of people polled thought that Obama is Muslim.

When the Muslim claim rears its ugly head, I always start by making the same two points:

1. Obama is not Muslim.
2. Even if he was Muslim, who cares?

Point #2 is always met with a disagreement. I really would not care if Obama was Muslim. I don't know why anyone would, except for insecurity or ignorance. Insecurity would cause someone to think that his religion is somehow diminished if someone of a different religion makes it to the White House. Ignorance would take care of the other 999 reasons someone would have a problem with a non-Christian being President (Note: non-Christian does not = evil).

The President is not preaching to us on Sunday in our church, and he isn't giving last rites - so, why does it matter what religion he is? Seriously, if anyone has a logical answer to this question, I would love to hear it in the comments section.

I would suspect that a person might argue that he wants the President to have the same morals as he has. Well, a Muslim can have the exact same morals that a Christian has.

The person then might say that he wants the President to have the same beliefs as him. Well, I can understand the desire for the President to have the same political beliefs because that effects legislation, but why is it necessary to line up religiously? It isn't necessary.

Going back to my assertion that being a Christian is the #1 criteria for becoming President, I truly believe that a reformed bank robber who had been released from prison 12 years ago would have a better chance of being President than a Muslim (Actually, I don't think that the Constitution allows for ex-cons to be President, but I'm just giving an example...get off my balls).

Recently, I read a book, The Faiths of Our Fathers by Alf J. Mapp, Jr. In the book, Mapp delves into what many of our founding fathers did, said, or thought regarding their own spirituality. I got the book in the bargain bin at Barnes & Noble, and it was just a mediocre read. I suspect that there has to be a better book written on the subject and would take any recommendations. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the beliefs of many of our founders.

George Washington was quiet about his personal religious beliefs and was never seen taking communion. Benjamin Franklin kind of made up his own religion. He believed in a Supreme Being with subordinate gods in some strange hierarchy of solar system gods. Franklin was also believed to be a Deist at certain stages of his life, believing that a Creator made the universe and hadn't interfered with man since.

Thomas Jefferson is a very interesting character as well, but his religious beliefs changed at different stages of his life. He dabbled in Deism and was a big proponent of reason. He also enjoyed Christian teachings but disregarded the mystical components. Whatever he believed at whatever stage of his life, Jefferson always seemed to portray a strong affinity for religious freedom.

In the chapter on John Adams, Mapp uses a quote that I love from Rt. Rev. William A. Brown, an Episcopal Bishop in Southern Virginia. A Calvinist clergyman was chiding Brown about some foibles of the old gentleman's flock, and Brown replied, "A Presbyterian will do anything an Episcopalian would. He just won't enjoy it."

I guess tomorrow night will give us an interesting glance into the beliefs of our presidential candidates, but it shouldn't be used in making a decision on how you will vote. We shouldn't pass judgement on one man's beliefs or the other's because as John Locke said, "The care of every man's soul belongs to himself."