McCain Clarifies Claim That He'd Prefer A Christian President

As Arianna predicted, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign released the following statement moments ago:

"The senator did not intend to assert that members of one religious faith or another have a greater claim to American citizenship over another. Read in context, his interview with beliefnet makes clear that people of all faiths are entitled to all the rights protected by the Constitution, including the right to practice their religion freely. In the interview he also observed that the values protected by the Constitution, by which he meant values such as respect for human life and dignity, are rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. That is all he intended to say to the question, America is a Christian nation, and it is hardly a controversial claim."

But this statement barely makes reference to his controversial statement that he prefers a president with a "solid grounding in my faith." Here are his full remarks from the Beliefnet interview:

Q: It doesn't seem like a Muslim candidate would do very well, according to that standard.

MCCAIN: I admire the Islam. There's a lot of good principles in it. I think one of the great tragedies of the 21st century is that these forces of evil have perverted what's basically an honorable religion. But, no, I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles.... personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith. But that doesn't mean that I'm sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president. I don't say that we would rule out under any circumstances someone of a different faith. I just would--I just feel that that's an important part of our qualifications to lead.*

*McCain contacted Beliefnet after the interview to clarify his remarks: "I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values."

Comments

[gigorgei]

I would like to add to MR's outstanding comment on the historical nature of Jefferson and Christianity. Furthermore, todays political leaders should be able to understand others that shared a similar view to the authur of the Declation of Independence.

US Presidents; Thomas Paine, Benjemin Franklin(not preaz....but close eonugh), President John Adams, Preseident Taft, President Madison. When naming American icos, the list goes on, but some where or are; Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Robert Green Ingersol, Carl Sagan, and the two richest American philanthropists Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. By the way, some of the next wealthiest humans are like 4 of the Waltons, who are big Chrisitans and give squat to their fellow humans.

[Newpatriot4reason]

We need a president that understands Greek classical history, and one that can seperate church from state, and his head from his over-stuffed walleted dogmatic ass.

[NoContest]

Without a doubt, the more you know McCain, the more you despise him.

[Iownpeterbilt]

In almost 70 yrs. of watching people I have arrived at the conclusion that the more religous the man the less honest he is. I grew up in a little mormon town in southern Utah, Dad bought a Ford tractor and I did custom farm work. The wine drinkers who worked at the iron mines looked me up and paid me on friday, which was their payday. The religous farmers might pay at the end of the summer, on the other hand they might not. Several of them died of old age having never paid. I simple do not trust people who use god as their crutch

[davidly]

Like William Burroughs once said: "If you ever do business with a religious sonofabitch, GET - IT - IN - WRITING. (Emphasis his)

[janmarie]

All these religious nuts are morons. It's all myth. Time to let it go. It's no different than believing in the tooth fairy or santa claus. If believing in this crock of crap made the world a better place how does one explain Bush and his butchering of thousands!

[dsorresso]

Perhaps Sen. McCain can tell us all where the principles of freedom of speech and religion are found in the Bible, since our country is apparently founded on principles that came from that book. Then he can explain where rights theory is found in the Bible. Then maybe he can tell us all how the first of Christianity's commandments is in harmony with the principle of religious freedom.

[lmwish]

Jesus constantly told his followers that this was the most important commandment: Love one another...treat others as you would be treated...

that is being a follower of Christ.. it has nothing to do with forcing others to pray as you do or don't or oppressing gays or making war or making the poor pay for the lifestyles of the rich

[davidly]

Granted it's early in the post, but I am encouraged by the responses thus far.

[MR]

McCain's campaign says that the statement that the US is a christian country founded on christian principles isnt controversial? That alone is the most absurd, dumb stupid ignorant statement any candidate could make and immediately disqualifies McCain from being President of a country whose founding he is so ignorant about.And that would be true of any other Republican candidate who is as ignorant of the founding of this country as McCain.

Send this to the McCain campaign: Thomas Jefferson despised christianity. He believed much of the world's ills were the products of the church. And so did Ben Frankin. Thomas Paine who wrote "the age of reason" and "common sense" wrote that the virgin birth was "nothing but a fairy story" and that christianity appealed to weak minded people.
Jefferson and the Framers of the Constitution put in the first ammendment because they wanted to make sure that there would never ever be anything in this country lke the Church Of England. Jefferson wrote of wanting to put up a "wall" between the church and government. And he was talking about the CHRISTIAN church. If anyone doubts this do a Google on "thomas jefferson and christianity". And of course there is the famous Jefferson Bible where Jefferson, feeling that half the New Testament was a collection of nonsense he took a razor blade to his personal bible and cut out everything he thought was nonsense.
If there is one thing the founders of this country wanted to be sure of it was that this would be a country where the christian church would hever have any say or influence over the affairs of state. This is why the first ammendment reads: "Congress shall make no law with respect to the establishment of a religion". It was designed to prevent the church from ever being the official religion of this country or to have any say in its affairs. And the reason is because of how much most of the founding fathers despised the church and wanted to be sure this would be a government free from it.

[worldtraveller]

You are completely on target. But 80% of the people in this country are Christian and 1/3rd of them think Jesus is coming within the next 2 months so he knows who he is playing to and they eat this S*#t up.

[thesimulacra]

While I agree it's important to point out Jefferson, Franklin and Paine's antipathy towards the Christian church, you go too far when you say that Jefferson and Paine "hated" Christianity. Paine and Jefferson had problems with how the church manipulated people by perverting the teachings of Jesus. They were people who believed in God and they were outraged that the church was making the claim that they controlled the interpretations of the teachings of Jesus. The best examples of this are your own: Paine's Age of Reason and the "Jefferson Bible". In Age of Reason Paine doesn't discard Christianity entirely, he merely explains that the Bible can't be the exact and perfect word of God, because a true "gospel" by definition goes from God directly to the ears of his people. And if Jefferson had "hated" all Christianity, then he would have discarded his Bible entirely, not chosen certain passages for keeping and others to be torn out. And as for Franklin, he was a Quaker, which is a Christian denomination. He believed in the Judeo-Christian God and believed in many of the teachings of Jesus as did the others.

That said, McCain is a moron for claiming we are a "Christian nation", as is anybody else who makes that claim. It's a really, really dangerous myth that's going around.

[thesimulacra]

After reading ZappoDave's great link below, I think I have to retract some of my previous statements - it appears that the founders previously discussed did not affiliate themselves as strongly with Christianity as I had learned before, most of them being self-declared "Deists". However, I still think claiming they hated "Christianity" is less accurate than saying they hated the "Christian Church" as it was established at the time.

[starislon]

No controversy? America is a Christian Country?
Didn't a lot of people come here to have religious freedom? Have you not heard of seperation of church and state? Are atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslums, Buddists, Jaines, Shintoists, Hari Krishnas, not Americans?

Could a country announcing a policy of endless warfare be considered Christian by anyone with a modicum of sense?

[lmwish]

This whole "Christian Nation" stuff is really getting out of hand.... and most of the problem is due to misprepresenting what Christianity is.
The Constitution is based on the best ideas of secular humanism as understood at the time it was adopted. Most of those ideas overlap with Christian ethics, Jewish ethics, and the ethics of many other religions. There is nothing in the Constitution that can be shown to be the sole illectual property of a Christian sect.
The United States is not now, nor has it ever been, a Christian nation.. we have no established religion and even if we did, like England, we could not say that the majority of the people behave like true followers of Jesus ... Christian means "little Christ", and many of the so-called Christians in this country do not follow the teachings of Jesus...they may believe He was the Son of God, and died and rose from the dead, but they don't follow the Sermon on the Mount..they don't love their enemies...they do not put the needs of the poor and oppressed over the wants and luxuries of the Cheney crowd ..

I am a Catholic currently involved in a renewal movement called "Just Faith" ..we are trying to build the kingdom of God by encouraging justice. We are more concerned with a society that takes care of the poor, the oppressed, a society in which education, good jobs, health care are available to all ..
We are NOT concerned about personal sins and are not interested in legislating about personal sins... and the more I learn about the teachings of Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and some other religious leaders), the more I am convinced that this is the most godless nation on earth ...not because of Hollywood, but because we have elected people like Bush and Reagan and Trent lott and Tom Delay who persecute the poor ...and we have "christian leaders" who encourage that persecution of the poor and oppressed and call it Christianity.

Senator McCain, for Christ's sake, shut up!

[nefertiti]

When he made such a comment , was he refering to Obama (who had a Muslim father and has a muslim name . Just wondering )

[ZappoDave]

The Treaty of Tripoli - Declares we are NOT a Christian nation:

Unlike governments of the past, the American Fathers set up a government divorced from religion. The establishment of a secular government did not require a reflection to themselves about its origin; they knew this as an unspoken given. However, as the U.S. delved into international affairs, few foreign nations knew about the intentions of America. For this reason, an insight from at a little known but legal document written in the late 1700s explicitly reveals the secular nature of the United States to a foreign nation. Officially called the "Treaty of peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, of Barbary," most refer to it as simply the Treaty of Tripoli. In Article 11, it states:
Joel Barlow, U.S. Consul General of Algiers
Copyright National Portait Gallery Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource NY

"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html

The link has lots of information on historical separation of Church and State.

[ManhattanMC]

Dave-
thanks for the link

MC

[aembry]

John McCain is another Republican Nazi bastard. If GWB is an example of a Christian President then I would rather have an atheist as president.

[jjllss33]

Actually McCain, as a Republican, would prefer a white, male, straight, rich, Christian president But he is afraid to say that

[Roger4]

Great comment and undoubtedly true.

[hiplib]

"America is a Christian nation, and it is hardly a controversial claim."

Please can someone explain to me how anybody in America, never mind someone running for the highest elected office of the land, can be so utterly ignorant of their own country's history.
America is most emphaticaally NOT a Christian country and never was, indeed that is one of the most fundamental founding principles of the USA.England is a Christian country - the state religion is the Church of England and the head of state, the Queen, is also the Supreme Governor of the state church. Most European countries were like that at the time of the founding of the USA, but the writers of the Constitution wanted America to be different and specifically stated that there was to be NO established state church and freedom of religion, which also implies freedom NOT to be religious.
Complete stupidity, utter igmorance, astounding narrow mindedness is the trademark of the US right wing.

[jjllss33]

This is not a Christian country, it is not a theocracy, and a full separation of church and state is essential to its survival In fact the last thing we need is a president, a McCain or a Romney or a Bush, who believes in and takes orders from supernatural beings.