The Faith of Our Presidents

Article Six of the Constitution clearly states, “…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” However, John McCollister was very clear when he said, “Nobody will ever be elected to the presidency of the United States who does not show a strong faith in Almighty God. In addition,” he told the Baptist Press, “there’s not going to be any president elected who is an agnostic or refuses to acknowledge that he depends on God.”

McCollister should know, as a historian, he devoted much time to studying the faith of the presidents and published his findings in God and the Oval Office: The Religious Faith of Our Forty-Three Presidents. McCollister contends that studying the beliefs of America’s first few presidents can help us in national contemporary debates.

National interest in the faiths of our presidents is as strong as ever. The fact that President Barack Obama found it necessary to part ways with his former pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright, is a classic example of the importance of religion in the lives of our presidents.

Despite Article Six of the constitution, all presidents of the United States have aligned themselves with Christianity. Other than President Kennedy, the others sided with the Protestant branch of Christianity.

During the 1960 presidential campaign, the issue of whether the nation would elect a Catholic to be president raised the specter of an implicit religious test. John F. Kennedy, in an address on September 12, 1960, confronted the question directly. With much clarity he stated,

“Neither do I look with favor upon those who would work to subvert Article Six of the Constitution by requiring a religious test, even by indirection. For if they disagree with that safeguard, they should be openly working to repeal it... contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for President, who happens also to be a Catholic.”

Kennedy’s response to his critics is particularly appropriate in this presidential campaign year. For many, the question of President Obama’s faith is still not clear – is he a Muslim or a Christian? To date, he acknowledges that he was born a Muslim, but as a young adult, he made a conscious decision to embrace Christianity.

However, his former pastor Jeremiah Wright has a few questions about the President’s Christianity. Recently, Wright said on tape: “…and even after Barack and Michelle came to the church…their kids weren’t raised in the church like you raise other kids in Sunday School. No. Church is not their thing. It never was their thing. The church was not an integral part of their spiritual lives after they got married. But the church was an integral part of Barack’s politics. Because he needed that black base” (The Amateur by Edward Klein: page 43).

But another situation confronts evangelical voters during this presidential campaign – the President’s opponent is a Mormon. That is correct; the Republican candidate Governor Mitt Romney shares religious views that can be considered heretical by many evangelicals. Should this pose a problem in the upcoming presidential elections?

Richard Land, a leader in the Southern Baptist Church, believes the media will highlight every variant belief among Mormons to influence the vote of independents. If elected, Land believes Romney’s faith will inform his decisions. But should that be a problem for evangelicals?

Land admits, “Most of the Mormons I know are decent, God-fearing, honest people. I think that Romney, as a serious Mormon, is far less likely to have any sexual scandals than a person who wasn’t a person of faith. He is far more likely to keep his word - far more likely to be a role model than were he a person of no faith. I think most Americans like having a president who is aware and acknowledges he is accountable to a higher authority than himself. If his Mormonism informs his policies, he will be pro-life, he’s going to be pro-family, and pro-traditional marriage” (“The Daily Caller,” April 11, 2012 – by Caroline May).

Recent studies on those who practice Mormonism in Utah produced some interesting results:

- Mormons live longer than most Americans; men by eleven years and women by eight years;

- Utah ranks 50^th in the nation in smoking, alcohol consumption, drunk driving and heart disease. The study (WilmingtonFAVS: Faith & Values; April 02, 2012 – Cynthia P. Barnett), provides a glimpse into the overall impact of healthcare costs in society.

In this brief overview, it is obvious that both presidential candidates have and will make policy decisions, influenced by their religious worldviews. Please keep this in mind as you go to the polls in a few months.