Round One: The New Yorker

The US Presidential race begins in Iowa. Since what happens there affects us here, it’ll be interesting to see which Republican candidate wins the most religious votes. Religion isn’t supposed to be an election issue, but try telling them that.

Out in Iowa, with the bell at last ringing and the combatants charging out of their corners, the Republican card has come down to the Maulin’ Mormon versus the Battlin’ Baptist. Would the Framers be pleased? Doesn’t seem likely, somehow. The deists, freethinkers, and assorted Protestants (plus two Catholics) who drafted the Constitution sternly forbade theological sucker punches—“No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” was how they put it—but today’s Republicans make their own rules.

Round One: Comment: The New Yorker