Ten Questions for Candidates
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 09:41:44 PM EST
Where do our candidates stand on basic matters of separation of church and state and the constellation of values and issues that intersect this foundational doctrine of our culture and our constitution?  

Unfortunately, this is not usually the kind of thing we see on traditional candidate questionnaires.  To begin to redress this problem Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation joined forces to publish ten well-framed questions to help us find out where our candidates are at, and to initiate meaningful discussions of our core values and how they interact with public policy.  

Suggested uses include:
Town Hall meetings or other locations where candidates for office will be gathering. You can copy and paste them into an email message to the candidates. Or, use these as suggestions to help formulate your own questions to candidates, to find out their views on safeguarding separation of church and state and protecting religious liberty.

These are things that can sometimes make candidates squirm, and they are sometimes coached not to talk about them. Nevertheless, some of us not only think that our candidates should, at the very least be prepared to answer such questions, and understand that we would probably like to hear good answers.

1) Leaders on the religious right often say that America is a "Christian Nation." Do you agree with this statement?

2) Do you think Houses of Worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates and retain their tax exempt status?

3) Do you think public schools should sponsor school prayer or, as a parent, should this choice be left to me?

4) Would you support a law that mandates teaching creationism in my child's public school science classes?

5) Do you think my pharmacist should be allowed to deny me doctor-prescribed medications based on his or her religious beliefs?

6) Will you respect the rights of those in our diverse communities of faith who deem same-gender marriage to be consistent with their religious creed?

7) Should "faith-based" charities that receive public funds be allowed to discriminate against employees or applicants based on religious beliefs?

8) Do you think one's right to disbelieve in God is protected by the same laws that protect someone else's right to believe?

9) Do you think everyone's religious freedom needs to be protected by what Thomas Jefferson called "a wall of separation" between church and state?

10) What should guide our policies on public health and medical research: science or religion?




Display:
These are great questions, but I don't count on hearing any of them from the mainstream media.

by khughes1963 on Thu Dec 22, 2011 at 09:51:37 AM EST
There are many millions of people and untold numbers of candidates for tens of thousands of elected public offices in this country.

Many of us go to candidate events, call in to radio shows, write letters to editors, and even know candidates personally or work in their campaigns. Some of us are candidates ourselves.  We don't need to wait for TV reporters to ask our questions for us, although it would certainly be nice if they did.

by Frederick Clarkson on Thu Dec 22, 2011 at 12:19:06 PM EST
Parent

I would add share these questions with people you know, especially if they're politically active (not just politicians).  Get people to talking about these issues and these questions.

It may take some time, but eventually people will start connecting the dots (that is, if they think for themselves) and realize the dire threat the dominionists pose to this country and the world.

I've been active in a local political organization (via a private message server) for years.  For a long time, every time I mentioned dominionism someone would either publicly or privately tell me that I was spouting "conspiracy theory stuff".  Then one person started reading for himself and started sounding the alarm.  Then another.

The discussion now is that separation of church and state must be the primary issue in the upcoming elections.  (They're trying to remove separation of church and state from the state constitution, and they're already using state agencies to solicit funds for religious organizations, most notably the Florida branch of Focus on the Family.)

I'm going to cut-and-paste the questions and send them to the server (and state the source).  With a bit of luck, some of the local dominionist candidates - and maybe even higher candidates than local - will start having to answer some of them.


by ArchaeoBob on Fri Dec 23, 2011 at 09:55:30 AM EST
Parent

if the non-dominionist candidates were able to do a respectable job answering these questions.  

They are the people who we are counting on to be able to hold their own in campaigns, debates, and in crafting public policy.

by Frederick Clarkson on Fri Dec 23, 2011 at 10:36:23 PM EST
Parent





what are we trying to accomplish here? Create a litmus test for political correctness? Some of these questions (#8 and #9) have only one possible answer. Any candidate would answer those the same way. Several of the other questions are actually pretty good, but I hope that voters wouldn't use them as pass/fail tests of a candidate's secular credentials. Even an atheist might feel that a rabbi should be free to speak out against an anti-Semitic candidate. (Question #2) And question 10 seems to be asking about the candidate's views on stem-cell research and the use of embryonic material. Why not just ask that? The separation of church and state doesn't mean that only non-religious people who draw none of their values from religion are eligible for holding public office. On the contrary, I would hope that we would be a country in which people from many different viewpoints can hold office, as long as they agree to play by the rules that respect the viewpoints of others.

by dscribner on Fri Jan 06, 2012 at 06:38:28 PM EST

It is encouraging to see organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation join forces to create thoughtful,  best place to buy diamond rings relevant questions to help us understand where our candidates stand on important matters of separation of church and state. These ten questions provide an opportunity to initiate meaningful conversations about our core values and how they shape public policy. It is essential that we understand what our candidates believe, and this is one way to ensure that those views are heard.

by isabelladom on Mon Feb 27, 2023 at 10:37:16 AM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (375 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (203 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (111 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (251 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (177 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (180 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (331 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (149 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.