Ten Questions

My friends over at First Freedom First have come up with a list of ten questions to ask political candidates. These are questions that the media should be asking but aren't.

Here are the questions. Next time you're at a candidate forum, press conference or town hall meeting, ask a few of these.

1. Leaders on the religious right often say that America is a "Christian Nation." Do you agree with this statement?

2. Do you think Houses of Worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates and retain their tax exempt status?

3. Do you think public schools should sponsor school prayer or, as a parent, should this choice be left to me?

4. Would you support a law that mandates teaching creationism in my child's public school science classes?

5. Do you think my pharmacist should be allowed to deny me doctor-prescribed medications based on his or her religious beliefs?

6. Will you respect the rights of those in our diverse communities of faith who deem same-gender marriage to be consistent with their religious creed?

7. Should "faith-based" charities that receive public funds be allowed to discriminate against employees or applicants based on religious beliefs?

8. Do you think one's right to disbelieve in God is protected by the same laws that protect someone else's right to believe?

9. Do you think everyone's religious freedom needs to be protected by what Thomas Jefferson called "a wall of separation" between church and state?

10. What should guide our policies on public health and medical research: science or religion?

In other words, it's up to each of us to hold the candidates' feet to the fire and get them to commit, in a public forum, that they support the concept -- the bedrock principle -- of that Wall of Separation.