Issues of faith and religion come to the forefront quite often during elections and presidential campaigns. In preparation for the primary elections, I sent each candidate a brief questionnaire about their faith and provided a "faith snapshot" of each of the 2008 presidential candidates. This project was updated as I received responses and found additional faith-related statements from the candidates.
On the Issues: Compare
Party: Republican
Age: 71
Education:
U.S. Naval Academy, B.S.
Current Position: U.S. Senator, Arizona
Experience: U.S. Navy, Senate Navy Liaison, U.S. Rep., Arizona
Declared Candidacy: April 2007
Vice Presidential Pick: Sarah Palin
Web site: John McCain 2008
Religion/Church: Baptist
Although John McCain was raised in the Episcopal Church and attended an Episcopal high school, he no longer considers himself a member of the Episcopal faith. For a number of years, he and his wife Cindy have attended the North Phoenix Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation. But McCain does not call himself a Baptist either. The Associated Press reported that McCain prefers to simply be known as a Christian. He said, "The most important thing is that I am a Christian."
Speaking to TIME about his experience in captivity as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain said that prayer played an important role in sustaining him: "Those of us who gained our spiritual help and strength through God seemed to do better physically than those who basically gave up."
About his prayer life, McCain went on to say, "I pray regularly, and I don't have to be getting ready for bed, or be getting up in the morning. I seize opportunities throughout the day."
McCain also said his faith has helped him move past failure: "I haven't always succeeded; I've failed many times. But because the foundation of ... my belief is redemption, I've been able to receive additional comfort, strength and the desire to move forward again."
McCain told Beliefnet, "I've sort of evolved in my religious faith. And I think probably because of my failings and mistakes in life I'm a much bigger believer in redemption. I really believe that redemption is a very important part of our religion. I'm much more of a believer in a loving God, a personal God. I'm much less inclined in every way to believe in a vengeful God."
• Background & Religious Bio of John McCain
• John McCain: Keeping Faith, on His Own Terms
• The Moment I Came to Love My Enemy
• John McCain on Character and Heroism
• John McCain's Rating from GodVoter.org
Democrats
Hillary Clinton - United Methodist
Barack Obama - United Church of Christ
John Edwards - United Methodist
Bill Richardson - Roman Catholic
Mike Gravel - Unitarian Universalist
Dennis Kucinich - Roman Catholic
Republicans
Rudy Giuliani - Roman Catholic
Mike Huckabee - Southern Baptist
Mitt Romney - Mormon
Fred Thompson - Church of Christ
Duncan Hunter - Southern Baptist
Ron Paul - Baptist
