How Christianity and Government Should Mix

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Slate's William Saletan watched Saturday's Thanksgiving Family Forum and summed up the candidates' remarks with respect to the role of religion in government. He says they're not at all opposed to a theocracy (as long as it's Christian, of course). Here are the 12 takeaways on the topic from the candidate's remarks:

  1. Religious Americans must fight back against nonbelievers. (Herman Cain)
  2. The religious values we must fight for are Judeo-Christian. (Rick Perry)
  3. Our laws and our national identity are Judeo-Christian. (Michele Bachmann)
  4. No religion but Christianity will suffice. (Rick Perry)
  5. God created our government. (Michelle Bachmann)
  6. U.S. law should follow God's law. (Rick Santorum)
  7. Anything that's immoral by religious standards should be outlawed. (Rick Santorum)
  8. The federal government should impose this morality on the states. (Rick Santorum)
  9. Congress should erase the judiciary's power to review moral laws. (Newt Gingrich)
  10. Courts that get in the way should be abolished. (Newt Gingrich)
  11. The purge of judges should be based on public opinion. (Newt Gingrich)
  12. Freedom means obeying morality. (Rick Santorum)

Religious Root readers, this one is for you: Do these sound like ideas you could get behind? If not, why? If the 12 points — and the candidates themselves — make you squirm, what are the GOP hopefuls missing when it comes to the role of religion in politics?

Read more at Slate.

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