# Why are all Presidential Candidates religious? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2003, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158 "2003-11-25T08:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/1 "2003-11-25T08:55:00Z")
It seems that every candidate goes to Church (or Temple, in Lieberman’s case) every day of the week, and twice on Sundays (Saturdays, in Lieberman’s case). I personally don’t care if a candidate is religious or not. But why does it seem like a candidate has to be religious in order to get elected? We can all remember seeing Clinton coming out of church on Sunday morning for his little photo-op, and Bush, well, we all know about his special relationship with God. Didn’t JFK have to promise the American People he wasn’t going to take his orders from the Pope? Hell, that was 40 years ago, and people were asking him, in a way, to forswear his religion. And how many Presidents were actually Religious? You never hear about Teddy Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln going to church every Sunday. Or for that matter, FDR, Woodrow Wilson, or even George Washington. So what’s the point? Do people really care? ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/2 "2003-11-25T09:04:01Z")
As you will see from [this site](http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm): > [@](#): > > In 1990, ninety percent of the adult population identified with one or another religion group. In 2001, such identification has dropped to eighty-one percent. and > [@](#): > > the proportion of the population that can be classified as Christian has declined from eighty-six in 1990 to seventy-seven percent in 2001; Declining populations notwithstanding, that’s still a sizeable chunk of people who believe in God. Unfortunately, not all of them are Dopers, and hence, quite a few of them might not be too pleased about being led by a person who doesn’t believe what they do about an aspect of life that is (generally speaking) fairly important. Your presidents are merely trying to show oneness with their electorate majority: “Look at me! I’m a good God-fearing-type fella! One of the people! Mmm church!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/3 "2003-11-25T10:45:45Z")
Yeah. While Presidential candidates usually make shows of faith to earn points, not all of them are necessarily that religious. I’m sure Sharpton, Lieberman and Kucinich, for example, actually are religious. But I don’t know about the other Democratic candidates, and even if they make the required gestures, you don’t know what they really think. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/4 "2003-11-25T14:55:32Z")
Well, when someone running for president can say this with no repercussions… “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” like George H.W. Bush did, I think that tells you what you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/5 "2003-11-25T15:01:42Z")
Does anyone believe Nixon was sincere about holding Quaker beliefs? The less religious are more likely to trust the more religious, or at least those who make a plausible show of it, than the more religious are to trust the less so. The numbers do induce pols to act that way, but it would still be the safer play even if the numbers were reversed. ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/6 "2003-11-25T15:02:48Z")
Furthermore, doesn’t the U.S. slogan/motto/theme/thingy go ‘In God we trust’? Wouldn’t go down too well if the president were the one saying “Well, _I_ certainly don’t.” ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/7 "2003-11-25T15:14:46Z")
Wilson was the son of a Presbyterian minister, but I don’t know if he had any personal religious beliefs. Washington was a vestryman of the Episcopal church, but so was everyone else that held public office at the time (at least before the VA Statute of Religious Freedoms was enacted). Interestingly enough, Washington refused to take communion, and would stand up and leave the church when this part of the service was reached. He left a very detailed diary of his daily comings and goings, and only recorded going to church about 20 times during his adult life. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/8 "2003-11-25T15:22:22Z")
As a broad generalization, which is the only kind that matters when you have to win a majority of the vote: Atheists won’t vote against moderate religious candidates. Religious people won’t vote for atheist candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/9 "2003-11-25T16:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*Well, when someone running for president can say this with no repercussions… > > “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” > > like George H.W. Bush did, I think that tells you what you need to know. \*\* George H.W. Bush never said that. The atheist who claims he did made it up. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/10 "2003-11-25T16:39:04Z")
You never hear about Teddy Roosevelt or Abe Lincoln going to church because it was such a part-and-parcel of daily life that no one thought about commenting on it- the same way you don’t hear about Woodrow Wilson breathing, but that doesn’t mean you can assume that Wilson was some undead being from the crypt. If you don’t believe me, look at Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, which is **drenched** in Biblical imagery, or read over TR’s speeches. Note also that “Onward, Christian Soldiers” was TR’s campaign song in 1912. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/11 "2003-11-25T16:48:03Z")
But in the 1860’s, you didn’t necessarily have to be a church going pious individual to be steeped in Biblical imagery. The school system back then was Christian based. The Bible was something you read to learn to read, so Biblical imagery is just a way to speak to the masses. I don’t know if Church was a part of life, but the Bible was. ---
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/12 "2003-11-25T17:19:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Corrado \* > \*\*\the same way you don’t hear about Woodrow Wilson breathing, but that doesn’t mean you can assume that Wilson was some undead being from the crypt. \*\* He wasn’t?? Damn, there goes another term paper down the drain. But Polk **was** a werewolf, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/13 "2003-11-25T17:50:04Z")
Well, because Polk was killed by a silver bullet to the chest, most historians agree that Polk was a werewolf. There is a growing revisionist movement, however, that posits that _anyone_ could be killed by a silver bullet to the chest, and therefore this is no more proof of Polk’s being a werewolf than his occasional howling at the moon, which as any modern Washingtonian can attest, tends to be a standard Saturday night thing around here, werewolf or not. For further reference, I suggest Martin Chamber’s excellent book _Fifty-Four Forty or Fangs!_, which is a very balanced account on both sides of the issue. **Mr. Babbington** stated: > [@](#): > > But in the 1860’s, you didn’t necessarily have to be a church going pious individual to be steeped in Biblical imagery. The school system back then was Christian based. The Bible was something you read to learn to read, so Biblical imagery is just a way to speak to the masses. I don’t know if Church was a part of life, but the Bible was. But you’ve just contradicted yourself- if the school system was Christian based, and Biblical imagery was a way of speaking to the masses, and the Bible was seen as a major book that everyone learned how to read, how did you **not** grow up being religious? The truth is that the United States underwent a major religious revivalism starting in the 1820’s- Baptists, Methodists, and many other sects of Christianity saw their start in the early 19th century and their adherents spread West and the Word with equal force. While our Founding Fathers and early Presidents were non-commital Deists, from Polk on most of our Presidents were very strong, faithful, and regular church-attending Christians. The reason we don’t hear much about it is because most _people_ back then were just as devout and church-attending. The rise of scientific secular humanism and Communism- both 19th century ideas that didn’t really start affecting this country majorly until the 20th century- was the first thing that led to a general class of people who might _not_ be particularly religious or even anti-religious. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/14 "2003-11-25T18:24:03Z")
well jefferson was a deist which is pretty far removed from church, that is probably about as close as it gets, although I am sure there were suspicions that some other presidents in our history were atheists, but that is off subject. ---
**Author:** ![Vezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b38774/32.png) [@Vezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vezer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/15 "2003-11-25T18:40:07Z")
Kennedy was the only Catholic to ever hold the presidential office. Many people were worried that the faith was too _orthodox_ in its preservation of rules and guidelines for life. That is why Kennedy had to say he wasn’t going to follow what the Pope said and set up papel decries! The rest were all mainline protestants (no Jewish presidents either). So yes, history says it helps to be religious, as long as your belief system is in vogue with many voters. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/16 "2003-11-26T19:26:11Z")
Shodan, got a link for me? I did some searching, and all I could find disputing the accuracy of the quote is that it is sometimes attributed to George W. Bush instead of his dad. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/17 "2003-11-26T22:42:34Z")
A line I heard somewhere (some movie or something…) went to the effect that “religion in politics is like catsup…poured liberally over everything”. It works for the voters who are religious, and is (mostly) inoffensive to those who aren’t–so any politician worth his salt, who has the teensiest bit of religious belief (or absolutely no scruples whatsoever) will give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/18 "2003-11-26T22:51:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > **Does anyone believe Nixon was sincere about holding Quaker beliefs?** Yes. He clearly had problems correctly applying the moral precepts he was taught to his actions as President, but everything that I’ve read about Nixon suggests that he was a deeply religious man who sincerely believed in Quaker teachings. Remember how he asked Henry Kissinger to pray with him just before his resignation? ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/19 "2003-11-26T22:52:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*George H.W. Bush never said that. The atheist who claims he did made it up. > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* I did a Yahoo search for this quote and found quite a few hits for sites claiming Bush [did say](http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/arguments.html#bush) that atheists should not be considered citizens; he made this statement in response to a question from Robert Sherman of American Atheists. I couldn’t, however, find any sites debunking the story. As the nontheist-intolerant religious right is a major constituency of the Republican Party, and politicians of all stripes have been known to shamelessly pander to those they perceive to be their major consitituents, I have little reason to doubt that he said that. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158/20 "2003-11-26T22:52:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*As a broad generalization, which is the only kind that matters when you have to win a majority of the vote: > > Atheists won’t vote against moderate religious candidates. > Religious people won’t vote for atheist candidates. \*\* Exactly. There are a lot more religious people than atheists. And those in the middle, even those who are utterly indifferent to their religion, are often uncomfortable with atheists and the non-religious or non-Judeo/Christian. (An ex-gf told me that she’d “have a problem” if I was an atheist even though neither one of us attended church at all.) And those people often buy into the simple, silly equation “religious=moral”. In a way, it’s like Pascal’s Wager. It’s an easy way for a candidate to appear to be an upstanding citizen with relatively little cost, but the cost of _not_ appearing religious is potentially very high in terms of the amount of support or votes they could lose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-presidential-candidates-religious/215158.md?page=2)