Boy I bet this is an interview McCain wishes he never gave

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353013650

Ties that bind: McCain's flirt with religious right brings some risk

<snip>A lightning strike

It’s probably also why some candidates, like Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, are refusing to play, declaring their faith to be a private matter. His fellow candidate, John McCain, had done the same until last week, but then he agreed to a video interview with the Web site Beliefnet.com, and he may now wish he hadn’t. The interview was posted on Beliefnet on Saturday, and at least a couple of his remarks have generated controversy.

McCain was asked if he agreed with poll results that showed a majority of Americans say that the country was founded as a Christian nation.

“I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense,” he said. All are welcome here, regardless of faith, “but when they come here, they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.”

The interviewer said that would seem to exclude Muslims from becoming president.

McCain replied: “I just have to say, in all candor, that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles - that’s a decision the American people would have to make, but personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith.” Later, he issued a clarification: “I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values.”

‘A sad performance’

Muslim groups took exception, but so did Jewish groups. It seems in his rush to defend Christian values, McCain excluded Jews as well. David Kuo, an author and a former White House staffer, said that McCain is pandering to Christian conservatives and called it “a sad performance.”

[Devlzown]

1. McCain should have STFU.

He really should be able to whip his competitors handily for his party's nomination, but he has made a series of blunders like this. This was his time, and the old boy has blown it.

[Deep13]

2. The Founders were all skeptics of religion.

Most of them were deists--believing that a supreme being started the universe rolling but has not acted within it since. Had they known about natural selection and cosmology, they may not have accepted any divinity. While all paid lips service to God in public (except Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine) all were privately mortified by the history of European Christianity. Some present day Protestants may choose to interpret this as a hostility to Catholicism only because of references to priests and atrocities committed before and during the reformation. Nevertheless, that is not an accurate assessment. The English Civil War and the puritanical rule of Cromwell as well as other Protestant excesses meant their criticism was directed at all Christian institutions. Jefferson's writings indicate he may have been an atheist. Madison, author of the Constitution and the First Amendment, was plainly horrified at the prospect of Congress appointing a chaplin for itself and government-supported chaplains for the army.

Consequently, the "founded on Christian principles" meme is an outright lie.