Senator John McCain said in an interview posted on the Internet on Saturday that the Constitution established the United States as a Christian nation and that his faith is probably of better spiritual guidance than that of a Muslim candidate for president.

“I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, that’s a decision the American people would have to make, but personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith,” Mr. McCain said in response to a question about the possibility of a Muslim’s running for president.

The interview was conducted by beliefnet, a Web site that writes extensively about religious issues of virtually every denomination. After the interview, Mr. McCain contacted the Web site to clarify his remarks, saying, “I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values.”

Mr. McCain said in the interview that he agreed with the results of a poll that showed that a majority of Americans believe the Constitution establishes a Christian nation.

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Amanda Jean Tuzzolino - 11/6/2007

Evidently, McCain has not read the Treaty of Tripoli. Religion does not belong in politics, and politics do not exist in religion.

William Mandel - 10/4/2007

That a majority of Americans believe the Constitution establishes a Christian nation simply means that they have not read it or have forgotten it. It also means that, as a majority are Christians, they take it for granted that that is what we are politically without having investigated the question.. One aspect of the greatness of our Constitution is its absolute separation of church and state. The pertinent phrase at the time of its writing was that there must be no establishment of religion. The word, "establishment," in that context, pertains to what is called an "established church," i.e., a church establishing a state religion.
There is a very great body of legal decisions in the field of constitutional law on this matter. Many pertain to the issue of prayer in schools. Jewish entities have generally been the initiator of such cases