It takes a village, a family, or a church maybe?

[jcrew2001]

Many critics deride the "village" but conservative christians understand that it can take a "Church" to raise a child along with a two-parent family.

But no one will say "It Takes a Church" to raise a child because of fear for appearing too religious and not separating church/state.

But it is important for candidates to express their faith seriously and elevate the role that churches can play in uniting communities. There is no other place besides the mall that families and neighbors meet once a week than at Church to strengthen their communities.

[ret5hd]

1. pffft.

[bread_and_roses]

8. Exactly. There's hardly a dearth of religiosity in the public discourse

The strutting little puppet in the WH seems to invoke God or prayrer every time it opens it's mouth in public. every tin-pot Pol has to invoke a diety at every opportunity. I havn't noticed any fewer people dying of war and famine around the world, or fewer children in poverty, or more care for the earth and less for the profits of Big Oil, or any more good governance for all their gabbling about god at every whistle-stop. We have faith-based this and abstinance-based that and prayer at every damn city council meeting it seems without any appreciable improvement in the state of the earth.

The more the Pols and Pundits bleat on about faith and God the less this looks like a Democracy and the more it looks like a Theocratic Oligarchy.

[gratuitous]

2. My membership in a church benefits me

We talk about anything you can imagine. We talk about our experiences, our understandings, how it relates to things in the Bible, and how it relates to our faith walk. The conversation keeps going, between generations and through generations, and we understand implicitly and explicitly that we won't arrive at any final answers, but we keep the communion going.

We see real danger when people isolate themselves, either individually or as a group, and we try to stay in touch not just with current members of the congregation, but also former members, prospective members, folks in the larger denomination, and folks in other faith communities. These conversations and this communion, as near as I can tell doesn't really happen in a mall. Just because a bunch of people arrive in the same patch of real estate at the same time on a give day doesn't necessarily make them a community.

[renie408]

3. I am an atheist and I know that church is important.

I wanted to just say that people that disregard religious affiliations are not being logical. Just because something doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it doesn't work for others. And all churches or Christians are not the same. For every Fred Phelps you have thousands of good people who are helpful and supportive of each other and their communities. I hate people who are dismissive of atheists and make obnoxious assumptions about them...just as much as I hate people who make assumptions about Christians or Muslims or anybody else.

[JNelson6563]

4. There's the town hall

though often forgotten by the citizens.

And until religioius differences are settled there will never be any church that can unite diverse communities.

Julie

[jcrew2001]

5. Democrats need to embrace the power of Religion

and protect the freedom of Religious Expression, not the freedom from religion (secularism). The town hall has one leader, the mayor, or city council.

The Church has a 2nd important and empathetic leader in the minister or priest. Societies cannot function with just one leader/president there needs a 2nd outlet of expression and that is spiritual and personal expression which comes from the Church. In the past it was the Catholic Pope and various Kings in Europe balancing the lives of citizens.

Hillary, Edwards, Obama need to embrace their Faith and encourage the role of the Church in our daily lives - this is how to win the votes of soccer moms/safety moms.

Romney may make the mistake of too much Church/Mormonism.

Huckleberry was a minister and he can show strength with his Faith.

[Madspirit]

6. Leave Your Religion Out of MY Politics

I would write in the name of Mickey Mouse before I would vote for a candidate who inputs their religious beliefs into their politicking. We already have a theocrat in the White House. This is 2007, not 1500.

I swear, I have never threatened to vote third party but if they start spewing their personal religious beliefs and sticking god where god does not belong, I will write in "Captain Kirk" or just stay home. I am so tired of this.

Atheists and their children do quite well morally and ethically without leaning on a church, thank-you very much. In the liberal town I am in, we have all sorts of community things NOT centered around religion.

Once again, WE ALREADY HAVE A THEOCRAT IN THE WHITE HOUSE. How's that working out for you?
Lee

[eridani]

7. My church is my local transfer station/recycling center

Faith is irrelevant to politics, which is entirely about ETHICS in the public sphere. Have any person with any religious faith you can think of describe their ethical standards, and I 100% guarantee you that you can find an identical set of standards in many other people with completely different faiths, or no faith whatsoever. Plenty of people do spirituality and ethics without faith.