Religion has no place in politics. Such statements about "He" when referring to "God", etc, disgust some constituents. Some have religions other than Christianity or no religion at all. Some people are spiritual without religion and that number is increasing. Politicians beware, or you may find yourself not being voted for and not knowing why.

I will vote against any candidate who brings up Christian views as part of their campaign. It's quite inappropriate to the non-Christians. I was raised Christian and happy to say I reject the teachings. The bible is a good history book, at least for the time, and the cannon scriptures were selected in a biased way. There are many others that were ignored because they didn't suit the Roman Empire or agendas of some early Christian groups. Jesus was a MAN that was a good model of how to be a kind person. Maybe psychic, who knows. But NOT the universal consciousness (a.k.a. God or Great Spirit) any more than anyone else is. Treating him as anything other than a good example diminishes what he did because it makes his accomplishments seem unattainable. That is, at least in the reality he existed since there are potentially multiple realities of the past.

Funny how it's offensive for Christians to share their beliefs yet when talking against Christianity you can get very specific and it's OK. I understand that this is a person running for a political office but if that is his honest answer, why is it wrong/offensive. He's not shoving it down anyone's throats. He just said (from the article) that that is what has worked for him. Good for him. Tired of saying this but tolerance works both ways!

He could have said many things to please you, but the question was asked about his personal experience. He didn't say 'I'm a Christian and I'm running to convert my constituents into Christianity'. He said, this is what works for him. Tolerance is accepting other's beliefs or opinions. A Christian would have to be tolerant of your right/opinion about not having religion. If they speak against your beliefs (or lack thereof), they're being intolerant. Especially as a politician, he has freedom of speech, religion, etc. You wanting others to mold their beliefs/opinions to your liking, takes away that freedom. If the majority doesn't like it, they have the right/freedom to not vote for him based on that.

Funny thing is that even if he had said what you commented about being white (which is totally different), he has that right. Like it or not! As voters, we have a right to vote against him, etc. Even funnier is that his comments obviously didn't come from a place of hate nor did it exclude people from other religions, which your example about 'white' did (not to mention the history that comes with those types of comments that obviously go hand in hand with hatred to other cultures).

Obviously, my example was a bit more extreme than his statements, and I imagine his intent wasn't to exclude. However, people unknowingly do make exclusionary statements. It's about education - making people aware of the ramifications of their actions. As far as history: the history of the religion includes much hatred of other groups, stretching back to the inquisition and earlier and also including some events very recently which are too horrific to describe in both cases - and often times religion used as a cover for ulterior motives. However, I do agree that the United States has generally been more tolerant of religion since some of the witchcraft trials of the colonial period. Even though there have been some alarming cases recently including anti-semitism earlier in the 20th century and more recently attacks on muslims both physically and verbally.

That's why I'm a big believer in leaving religion out of politics. Because I think people underestimate the amount to which their religious statements can offend people. I'm from up North and used to religious diversity. Things becoming more diverse here may be strange for old-school politicians.

As far as the majority not voting for people who make religious statements.. Maybe someday, however when the majority of voters are Christian and the politicians know that. Therefore, I unfortunately think pandering to Christian voters will go on for some time into the future. We need to be aware of what is happening.

I think I understand where you're coming from but there is a lot more positive history in Christianity than the example of hatred, that do not represent Christ-like behavior. That's like saying all Muslims hate because of 9/11. You have the right to disagree but it bothers me that you try to sell your opinions in the name of standing against hatred when that's far from reality. It may be hard for you to believe but there are many Christians who want to truly serve their community and bring positive changes. They are MANY who are good people and really practice the love that Jesus taught (love others as you love yourself). How can that be a 'scary' thing?