I really appreciate Meacham's long history perspective on American religion in politics.

Here he is -- in the Dec. 17 issue of Newsweek -- showing off his long-form skills: A New American Holy War.

The fact is that Romney is running as a religious candidate. He is not running a campaign that argues that religion is not relevant to the governance of this nation.

I'm not uncomfortable with Romney because he's Mormon- I'm uncomfortable with him because he believes his beliefs are part of, as he said, 'our shared moral tradition'.

That's quite the mandate to claim- Romney is saying that he understands all of our faiths (although he excluded those of no faith) and he said that his presidency will further the role of religion in our nation.

I don't think it is bigoted to oppose a candidate whose language smacks of theocratic imposition.

Politicians have several ways of addressing the issue of their faith. In 1960, JFK, whose situation was reminiscent of Romney in that his Catholic faith was called into question, said that he believed that separation of church and state was primary, and that he intended to follow the Constitution.

A few days ago, Tony Blair (previous prime minister of the UK) said that he did not discuss his deeply held faith while in office because he did not want people to think he was a "nutter."

People like Ronald Reagan were religious but did not wear it on their sleeves.

Now we have Romney trying to ingratiate the right wing evangelicals (whose dislike for Mormonism is rivaled only for their dislike of abortion doctors) by saying that he is in reality one of them.

Then Huckabee says that we need to essentially Take this country back for Jesus Christ.

The weird thing is that religion has until now been one of the quieter aspects of the 2008 race, except among some Democrats spelunking for conservative votes. Now it looks like the religious issue is going to bust open and may even be a deciding factor in this race - some will vote for a religious candidate because of his faith, some will think a candidate's faith is too weird, and others will want to restore that important standard of separation of church and state.

How might we view Obama's remark, "We're going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth"?

Curious...Is he from the "religious right"? Don't think so.
Some in both camps have their agenda for the church!

After watching the NH debates, Romney came across as the most egocentric and arrogant of all the others, which says a lot because to even run for president demands a enormous amount of ego. One could almost feel the negatives vibes from the other Repub. candidates in his willingnes to dominate the entire debate.