No one will be surprised to learn that many in this year\u2019s crop of presidential candidates think it\u2019s perfectly great\u2014no, essential\u2014to mix religion with government. So, a scorecard released recently by the Secular Coalition of America [SCA]<\/a> doesn\u2019t contain any truly shocking revelations. But don\u2019t stop reading just yet. The scorecard clarifies candidates\u2019 ideas on religion and government by breaking them down into sub-categories: \u00a0church-state separation, acceptance of evolution, and religious discrimination.<\/p>\n

The resulting spreadsheet makes for very scary reading, for those of us who take seriously the Constitution\u2019s separation clause, and for the 50 million \u201csecular and nontheistic\u201d [estimated by SCA] Americans who will help choose the next president in the 2012 election.<\/p>\n

And, in case you were wondering, SCA also included President Obama in its ratings. He got the top ranking overall, but it\u2019s a fairly low bar, when everyone else\u2014except Mitt Romney and John Huntsman\u2014gets an \u201cF\u201d on accepting evolution.<\/p>\n

SCA\u2019s summary chart of the findings looks like this:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Key:<\/strong> Candidate\u2019s remarks and\/or actions have been: \u00a0\u00a0A: Consistently positive; B: Neutral or occasionally positive; C: Mixes, with positive and negative responses; F: Consistently hostile or negative; N\/A: At the time of publication, SCA was unable to verify the candidate\u2019s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The full SCA report<\/a> gives the details, including candidates\u2019 responses to specific questions that factored into their scores. Here are a few excerpts:<\/p>\n

On church and state separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bachmann<\/span><\/em>:<\/span><\/em> <\/strong>She linked the death of more than 40 Americans after Hurricane Irene in 2011 to a message from God admonishing politicians \u201cto rein in the spending.\u00a0 In 2006, Bachmann told aChristian group that public schools “are teaching children that there is separation of church and state, and I am here to tell you that is a myth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gingrich:<\/span><\/em> <\/strong>From Gingrich\u2019s presidential candidate website: \u201cThe revolutionary idea contained in the Declaration of Independence is that certain fundamental human rights, including the right to life, are gifts from God and cannot be given nor taken away by government. Yet, secular radicals are trying to remove \u2018our creator\u2019\u2014the source of our rights\u2014from public life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Attitude toward nontheists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obama:<\/span><\/em> <\/strong>\u201cWe are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers,\u201d hesaid. \u00a0After the 2009 Fort Hood shootings he said, \u201cVeterans\u2019 Day is our chance to honor those Americans who\u2019ve served on battlefields\u2026They are Americans of every faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers.”<\/p>\n

Bachmann:<\/span><\/em> <\/strong>She said she believes \u201cnothing is more important than\u201d converting people before the world ends.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Gingrich:<\/span><\/em> <\/strong>\u201cThere is no attack on American culture more deadly and more historically dishonestthan the secular Left\u2019s relentless effort to drive God out of America\u2019s public square,\u201d he said. \u201cI am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time [my grandchildren are] my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santorum<\/span><\/em>:<\/span><\/em> \u201cI think the key to the success of this country, how we all live together, because weare a very diverse country\u2014Madison called it the perfect remedy\u2014which was to allow everybody, people of faith and no faith, to come in and make their claims in the public square, to be heard, have those arguments, and not to say because you\u2019re not a person of faith, you need to stay out, because you have strong faith convictions, your opinion is invalid,\u201d he said. However Santorum also stated, \u201cThe movement in our country to fly on \u2018one wing\u2019 reason alone will ultimately undermine the very foundation of our country\u2014freedom.\u201d (Two wings mean faith and reason.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SCA\u2019s rankings are based not on conjecture and stereotype, but on the candidates\u2019 words themselves. Certainly, much campaign rhetoric is empty. But when it comes to religion, these people are serious. If one of them succeeds in defeating President Obama, those who want a firewall between government and religion have much to fear.<\/p>\n

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