I do understand that a deeply religious person cannot separate their religious belief from their personal agenda. Remembering that as a government official there is a mandate in the Constitution to separate the Church from the State.
I assume you are referencing the 1st Amendment to the COTUS?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Point #1 - Note that it mentions Congress. Not the President.
Point #2 - Note that it says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
Point #3 - Note that it says Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.
A POTUS can be as religious or atheistic as he wants. I don't care.
As long as he actively strives to get the government out of my bedroom, checkbook, confessional booth and physical health.
He can believe that baby jeebus is building sand castles on the moon until the next appearance of Haley's comet, for all I care. Just don't use the power of Government's monopoly of force to compel me into decisions I otherwise wouldn't make. If my choices are distasteful to a fundie, as long as they are actions that create no victims, it's no one else's problem but my own and no business of government. GTFA&STFU.
Heck, I'd even go along with the Fistful For POTUS party if ol' Fisty would agree to act in a way fully in compliance with Amendment 1.
But, he'd have to leave alone:
-Teh Gayzors
-The "Sacrament" of marriage (sacrament = manifestation of holiness... embodying any "sacrament" into law is an immediate 1st amendment violation)
-Abortion
-Flag burning (the other Grand Distraction to drive passionate idgit voters to the polls to vote for someone OTHER than a real-world problem solver)
He'd have plenty to tackle in four (or even eight) years:
-Budget
-Reduction of scope of government
-two wars
-Wo(s)D
-GWoT
-Patriot Act
-Space dominance
-Eliminating government-induced distortion on free markets
-Currency stabilization
-TSA
Frankly, I'm starting to think that we NEED 3 parties:
Dems: for the social leeches
GOP: for the fundies and RINOs
Tea Party: For the people that care about a lean, efficient, honorable government that is committed to making America THE global leader in liberty, industry, technology and exploration. A party that protects and provides an eternal Western Expanse to continually explore and settle.
I expect that the Dems would lose a LOT of voters if there were an actual party that ran on the above 10 plank issues. A lot of people are GOP-shy due to NeoCons and Fundies, but care about those 10 issues, or at least a subset of them.
The point you seem to be missing is that you can't blame the right for the marriage controversy, as it was the left that chose to make it an issue. If your view is that we should give the left everything they want, so we can focus on the economic issues, are you willing to give in on gun issues, and everything else not directly related to economics?
The point you're missing, fisty, is the marriage issue is structured as follows:
-Marriage tax breaks are in place due to McCarthy era legislation. There is currently legislation that plays financial favorites between gays and straights.
-One solution to the problem is to give gays "marriage." They can then get the tax breaks and other legal issues in one convenient swoop just like straights can, or else they have to go through a bunch of convoluted and expensive legal loops to obtain parity.
-The other solution is to abolish the government acknowledgement of "marriage" at all. It can still be a private contract which provides the same legal resolutions, but as a private contract it opens it up to any two consenting parties. Gay or straight. And it also levels the tax playing field.
Jamis' and my point is: Who the frak cares, in the context of the nation-crushing dilemna before us? We have spine-breaking debt on top of us, with greater financial power than that of the combined might of the entire United States Armed Forces.
This is nation-crisis time.
And fundies want to get tunnel-vision on teh gayzors right now.