Five Public Opinions

Republican presidential candidate John McCain shows his true colours on the separation of church and state:

[McCAIN:]I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.

I think the number one issue that is in the selection, that which people should make a selection of the President of the United States is, “Will this person carry on in the Judeo-Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind”?

I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles that, I, that, that’s a decision that the American people would make, but personally, that’s, that’s just, I prefer someone who I know with a solid grounding in my faith.

I just feel that, that, my faith is probably a better spiritual guidance, a better spiritual guidance. I just would, I just feel that that’s an important part of our qualifications to lead.

We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses, and, but they, when they come here, they shouldn’t, they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.

Our Founding Fathers were concerned about church being part of the state such as had been in England and the imposition of a certain type of Christianity imposed on people. So, they didn’t mean, in my view, separation of church and state, that there is no place for God or a Superior Being, a Creator. They also continued to emphasize the Christian principle, “In God We Trust”, “created equal.” Every statement that they made had to do with the belief in a Divine Creator.

We are a nation which is uniquely designated in many respects. But I think it was Man implementing the teachings of Christ. [Emphasis added. Transcript from a commenter at Atheist Media Blog]

So not only does he believe (or, given the likelihood that he’s pandering to fundamentalists, purporting to believe) that the US Constitution founded America as a “Christian Nation,” he also believes that there should be a religious test for public office. Via Pharyngula.