Steve Nelson

Head of the Calhoun School in Manhattan

Those who support school choice initiatives are wittingly or unwittingly complicit in the disintegration of the great American experiment.

R. Scott Appleby and Patrick Q. Mason

John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Nineteenth-century Catholic and Mormon leaders initially pointed to the church as the primary vehicle of social welfare. But the complexity of modern economies led both churches to recognize the essential role of the state in creating and maintaining a broad safety net for the poor.

James Peron

President, Moorfield Storey Institute

Religious right groups and traditionalist conservatives are ringing warning bells, telling David Cameron that if England passes marriage equality, Christians will flee the Tories in large numbers.

Helen C. Whitney and Gregory A. Prince, Ph.D.

Documentary filmmaker

Considerable attention has been devoted to Mitt Romney's tax returns and his former company's "job-creating performance," but there has been insufficient discussion about what arguably has had the greatest role in shaping who he is and how he views the world: his Mormon religion.

Daniel N. Nelson

CEO, Global Concepts & Communications, LLC

Who is Mitt Romney? His children and wife know him and certainly love him. But Americans do not. His "likeability" polling is half that of President...

Susie Sampson

Patriotic American

Boy was there some excitement over at Chick Fil A! The gays were protestin' and the Christians were eatin'.

Sara Davidson

Author of "Leap!" "Loose Change" and "Joan: Forty Years of Life, Loss and Friendship with Joan Didion."

He traveled to India, where he found the swamis "just as phony as those I met in America." He came up with an idea: What if he pretended to be a guru and made a film about it? Would people start following him or see through it?

Judy Bolton-Fasman

Writer

Here we are again, reading names. Piecing together life stories from the snapshots and accompanying biographical summaries. Here we are again in another "there but for the Grace of God Go I" moment.

Eric Sapp

Founding Partner, Eleison Group

The problem with religious academics doing political polls and non-religious reporters covering them is that the headlines can get skewed and political implications muddled.

Eliza Wood

Founder, ProgressPlanet.com

While many Americans might not be willing to consider electing a Muslim candidate for president in 2012, in reality Islam is about as close to Christianity as Mormonism.

Marena Dieden

High school student in Los Angeles

I'm in Page, Arizona hanging out with Navajo teenage boys. The boys welcome me warmly into their assimilated world. They are hospitable, kind, and intrigued by "my side of the world."

Joanna Brooks

Associate Professor, Dept. of English and Comparative Literature, San Diego State University

LGBT pride parades in 10 American cities are witnessing the arrival of an unlikely new contingent of gay allies: Mormons.

Raymond Haberski, Jr.

Associate Professor of History, Marian University

"God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers," Romney asserts "...I will never, ever apologize for America."

Matthew Bowman

Author, 'The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith'

Nobody really likes to talk about their underwear, and Mormons probably have better reason than most to be reticent.

Liz Wallace

Writer and editor

I went to high school with a relatively large Mormon population. During senior year I became friends with a Mormon girl. She was pretty in a traditional way, funny, charming, and had a sass to her that was intriguing. In short, I had a schoolgirl crush on her.

Henry G. Brinton

Senior Pastor, Fairfax Presbyterian Church

Religion is a low priority among voters this year, especially when compared with the economy. And both candidates are acting in ways that will make 2012 the most secular presidential campaign in years.