And I thought he was just addressing the question he was asked. What do you believe about Jesus Christ?

Who knew that a belief Jesus Christ would turn you into a person that would not "represent people of all faiths and none."

Who's Twisting Who?

Boyd, APO AE, USA

OH NO, JOHN ROBERTS, NOT SECULAR HUMANISM!

It's sad that to hold public office in this country you have to have an imaginary friend in the sky, or at least pretend to.

Garrett, Raleigh, North Carolina

The question he answerwed was "what his belief in Jesus Christ was" he didnt say anything about other peoples religion.
You are manipulating the truth to suit your ill informed reporting not unusual these days for press or politician.
I also would say" i believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Saviour" if asked but that doesnt mean i am intolerant of other faiths or denominations and neither was he.

paul anthony, johannesburg, south africa

In these dangerous times, what we need most in a president is a hand-on manager. And the level of the current debates doesn't allow us to see. I am an atheist and i really don't care whether the next president admits me in his club - as long as he does his job. And I assume any of them will do a better job than the current most hand-off president in modern history has been doing.

val lyubarsky, brooklyn, ny

"Andrew Sullivan's twisted idea of freedom : secular humanism."

Could John Roberts of San Diego please direct us to 'secular humanism's' catalogue of murderous crusades and inquisitions, witch-burnings, anti-semitic pogroms, list of banned books, indulgences, suicide bombings, beheadings, amputations, stonings, violent exorcisms, imprisonments and other loss or restriction of liberties and so on, all perpetrated in its name?

rgray, Edinburgh, Scotland

I think it's sad, but not surprising, that Romney would pull the quote from John Adams, but not from, say, James Madison, who is arguably THE Founding Father, since he wrote the Virginia Plan that eventually became the US Constitution at the Convention in 1789. But then, Madison was a strong advocate of church and state separation and the lack of a need for religion to justify government; he fought with Jefferson to dis-establish the Church of England in Virginia, and fought against Patrick Henry, who wanted to bestow tax dollars on churches.

Nothing Romney does surprises me, not least his cowardly "speech" given in front of supporters. Kennedy at least had the balls to give a speech to people who despised and mistrusted him because of his Catholicism, and then had the courage to argue for separation of Church and State in front of them while fielding hostile questions. Romney, of course, could never do that; that might actually force him to offend someone, or reveal himself.

Brett Iddison, Salt Lake City, UT USA

Just remember, we are as free as we allow ourselves to be. Let's not worry if we don't have permission from the christianist right to think freely. Freedom is something we claim, not something given or withheld by those mediocre individuals who lie chasing illusions of power.

Kevin, Chittenden, VT

I dissent. I hope wholeheartedly that Republicans continue to force government-endorsed religion into the public square, regardless of its illegality. Teach creationism alongside evolution in our public schools. In fact, teach Christianity as gospel. Only then will our country reach the same degree of enlightenment as England, where the teaching of religion as truth is mandated by the Queen, who is the head of the Church. Only then will we see in the United States the empty cathedrals Mr. Romney so eloquently laments. One can only hope--and pray.

Joey, Gainesville, Florida

The assertion here, that Romney was intentionally excluding nonbelievers from moral American culture, has been widely discussed and widely dismissed. Thank you, Andrew, for documenting that the consensus is in denial.

kynefski, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA

With approximately 40% of the population of the U.S. still living in a biblical fantasyland where a god created in our image is credited with creating the universe in six days, and Darwinism is dismissed with the same flawed arguments Darwin himself countered long ago, people hoping for a meaningful shift in America away from religious silliness should avoid holding their breath. Sadly, the US has largely abandoned intellectual rigor in the field of national political discourse on any topic where fundamentalist religious types insist on inserting their snouts. For a laugh, pick of a copy of Mark Twain's "Letters From the Earth." Included in this book are a selection of letters purportedly written by Satan about a visit to the Earth. The letter where the Ark turns back on the third day afloat in order to pick up a missing fly (the blessed carrier of the Typhoid germ) is worth the purchase price. Twain's delightfully satirical essay "Was the World Made for Man?" is also in the book.

Don, West Hartford, USA / Connecticut

As an American Atheist I am embarassed that this discussion is so dominant in the American political discourse. The reilgious right are banded together by bigotry, fear and ignorance of atheists and agnostics. It would be laughable if it werern't so depressing. Until now I felt sorry for Mitt at the hands of the evangelicals, now only revulsion.

Tom Clark, Scappoose, OR

It sometimes seems that the US is teetering on the brink of becoming a religious state. Witness the succession of bitter court cases over the insanity of creation / intelligent design being taught as science - or even being taught at all. Certainly it seems impossible for an atheist to be elected president ??? Perhaps the constitution gives too prominent a place to religion, too much protection to religion, in spite of trying to be evenhanded. It was, after all, written by people who were themselves religious, at a time when religions ruled.

Hopefully, the US will maintain and preserve the separation of church and state, but it looks like being a long hard struggle.

Mike, Sydney, Australia

What would Jefferson have said?

Oliver, London,

Andrew Sullivan's twisted idea of freedom : secular humanism.

John Roberts, San Diego, California

Wasn't Romney quoting John Adams when he said that the Constitution was meant to serve a religious people? If this is true, then our freedom depends upon the morality that religion provides. But I'm sure Andrew Sullivan knows more than John Adams right?

Jason, Detroit, Michigan

What could any politician say that would not raise the ire of some group or groups. The reality is the that what Romney said gives deep insights into his beliefs. I think that is why his speech has been such a widely discussed topic. I find nothing cynical or disingenuous in what Mitt had to say. In a funny way it is the
"Osmond " factor in his personality that people don't like. Our culture will forgive a philanderer like Bill Clinton, but they have a hard time with people that seem too good. It is a funny mirror of our strange life and times (no pun intended). You Mr. Sullivan have shown that eloquently.

mark Fishler, heber , utah