Majority of Americans Want a President With Strong Religious Beliefs
A recent poll shows two-thirds of Americans think it is important for presidential candidates to have strong religious beliefs, regardless of their religious affiliation.
The poll was conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and found just one in five Americans would be opposed to a candidate who had different religious beliefs than their own.
Apparently, 67 percent of Americans would be uncomfortable with an atheist president, 64 percent would be uncomfortable with a Muslim president, 53 percent would be uncomfortable with a Mormon president and just 29 percent would be uncomfortable with an evangelical Christian president, according to the poll.
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Two candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney and John Huntsman, are Mormons. The remaining candidates are Christian.
Faith has been put in the spotlight as furor over the status over Mormonism in America has emerged over the last couple of months. Mormonism was put on the forefront in October after Robert Jeffrees, a senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, called Mormonism a "cult."
Romney later responded: "I just don't believe that kind of divisiveness based on upon religion has a place in this country."
Just before Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his plans to run, he told the Des Moines Register that he felt he was being "called" to run for president.
Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain has been soaring in the polls lately and has made his position on faith clear.
“I don’t know if I’m the leader that this nation needs at this particular point in our history, but I believe God almighty knows,” said Cain at a campaign event recently.
The poll showed eight in 10 Americans say creating jobs is the country's main priority. Six in 10 say cutting down the government's budget deficit is crucial. Most Americans do not feel politicians in Washington know what is best for the nation, the poll also showed.
Only 44 percent feel President Obama has adequate ideas on how to create jobs, and 28 percent said they were satisfied with his progress in the position.
The survey conducted on 1,505 adults from Sept. 22 to Oct. 22.
