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.

The Crimson White

University of Alabama student newspaper

If Romney's political archrival isn't even willing to consider religion fair game in this election, why should you?

Soraya Chemaly

Feminist, Writer, Satirist... not always in that order

Last week, Rick Santorum, a man more Catholic than the Pope, in an appeal to fundamentalist, Protestant evangelical voters, said of Mitt Romney, a com...

Fred Karger

President, Rights Equal Rights

We must stop this Religion-based bigotry. I once again appeal to you as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) to sit down face to face and find common ground.

Liz Smith

Columnist

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain," reads the third commandment in the famous Ten! I thought of this when watching the Tony Awards las...

Paul Gunther

President, The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art

With a presidential campaign reaching fever pitch earlier than ever, and with all professional prognosticators predicting a close call, LDS temple architecture deserves closer inspection.

Leonce Gaiter

Novelist and essayist

The right's strength is its ability to immerse itself in tribal warmth of sexist, racist, homophobic waters, while simply sprinkling the rest of us with their refreshing mists. And they are refreshing. Admit it.

Ari Melber

MSNBC Co-Host, Attorney

The notion of a Jewish "test" for campaign coverage will rub some the wrong way, but it may also bluntly cut through the semiotics of debates over balanced religious treatment.

Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie

Lecturer, writer, and President Emeritus, Union for Reform Judaism

It is a real a stretch to see Stewart as a teacher of religion. True, his interviews on religious matters, as on everything else, are always civil. But the fact is that while he avoids anger and bitterness, his jokes and skits on religion have a mocking, dismissive tone.

Bruce Kluger

Member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors

As in most presidential election years, noisy battles have been raging as the nation's political armies gear up for what promises to be an even nois...

Arianna Huffington

This week, Facebook went public with the third largest IPO in history. On the downside of the ledger, Moody's downgraded more than three-dozen Spanish and Italian banks, and JPMorgan's trading losses zoomed past the original $2 billion estimate. On the political front, a pro-Romney super-PAC's plan to disentomb the Reverend Wright scandal made headlines. Some might question the wisdom of those backing a candidate who is an elder in a church known for magic underwear, baptizing dead people and a belief that Jesus visited America making religion a campaign issue -- but in a world where single-mom Bristol Palin shamelessly moralizes about the value of kids "growing up in a mother/father home," all bets are off. The controversy prompted Romney to deliver the quote of the week, saying of his stance on Reverend Wright: "I'm not familiar with precisely what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was." Mitt, check your Facebook timeline!

Christopher Brauchli

Lawyer

I am not surprised that Mitt does not remember the Lauber incident since, as his classmates have pointed out, it was only one of a number of teenage pranks that amused Mitt, if not his victims.