my1501W

I'm going to say this right now, I'm agnostic. I neither firmly believe in the presence or absence of an all powerful deity or a group of deities.
Now, I view this as quite liberating, even though most people seem to view it as one of the following:
1. A cheap-skate way to avoid damnation
2. A very lonely and sad way to live life
3. Unimportant.

I would hope that our society would view it as the third way, but unfortunately it is one of the first two.
While watching a clip of the Daily Show, Bill Mauer pointed out something very troubling.
He mentioned that it is probable that neither Obama nor McCaine are very religious (something I'm doubtful of given Obama's 'history' with certain religious figures and the background of the republican party) but they have to pretend to be in order to convince people of their morals.
While I view the morals of everyone in question, it deeply troubles me when religion alone is enough to convince the American public that someone has 'good morals'.

I'm going to admit that I have a bias, I tend to view most religious figures as having questionable morals (IE priests that molest little boys, Osama, the Dark Ages, etc. etc. etc.)
However, I would rather have someone who admits that they're going to base their decisions as a president on cold logic rather than religious text.

Unfortunately, sometimes people in power need to make decisions that nobody else wants to make, sometimes they need to be the 'bad guys' for the public's well being. Example: delivering bad news such as death, starvation, and taxes.

If someone is going to have to choose between the public's well being, and something that disagrees with their religious grounds, I would rather they chose with their head.
Any job comes with certain benefits and costs, and sometimes the job may ask you to cross your religious faith. If it isn't worth that to you, then that job isn't the right fit for you.
Public office is no different, and I feel a pre-requisite in a debate question should be whether or not someone in office would be willing (this should be administered under oath) to cross their own religious doctrine for the good of the people they've been elected to lead.
America seems to think differently, they place religion and faith so high on the pedestal that nothing is allowed to touch them.
It forces candidates of certain religions to just drop out, but I have to wonder where our country has gone.
Yes, there are certain moral implications of having religious faith, but that should not be the deciding factor on morals!

Look at voting history, service record, biographies, look at what made that person who they are, but do not place religion so high up!