Off the Reservation:Huckabee, Romney and Religion in American Politics

While I don't usually like to talk about the American presidential campaign on this blog, I have become so frustrated with this issue of faith that if I don't say anything, I think I am going to scream.

Is it me, or is there just too much religion talk in this race? Unlike the Christian Evangelicals (Jesus Freaks) in Iowa, some of us who actually care about the political process will not be voting for a president based on their religious convictions. But the Republican party wants everyone to think that this is so.

I don't get Mike Huckabee, the guitar-playing Baptist pastor who doesn't believe in evolution and thinks HIV/AIDS is a "politically correct issue." Pollsters believe that Huckabee has a strong chance of winning the Iowa Caucases Jan. 3. His surge in the polls comes mostly out of scepticism about Mitt Romney's Mormonism. While I don't know much about Romney's faith, what I do know about it is weird and unsettling, especially about the role of women and blacks in the Church. However, I wouldn't vote for Romney because of his politics, not his faith, and I wish more people were doing that.

Could we get back to the real issues, like healthcare, education, the war in Iraq, instead of who is more Christian, please?