Sen. McCain’s unfortunate comments reflect a common but wrong belief (shared with about 55 percent of the American public) that the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation.

The Constitution is a decidedly secular document. Yes, many of the Founders were men of faith and mostly Christian, but they opted to ensure religious liberty for all, not ensconce their own religious views in the nation’s founding document. When it comes to religion, our Constitution is not a religious document but a religious freedom document. The U.S. may be a Christian nation sociologically, but not constitutionally. That fact is easy to demonstrate. Living up to the religious freedom values embodied in the Constitution and not giving preference to the Christian majority is more difficult.

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Governor Romney said some good things in his speech. The Constitution bans any religious test for public office. He is right: his Mormonism should not disqualify him, legally or politically, from running for the highest office in the land.

He is also correct that faith is an important part of our country and culture. But he was too quick to debunk the separation of church and state.

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I agree with half of Gov. Huckabee’s statement. We should not “try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.” That would be as presumptuous as it would be futile. But I fervently disagree with any assertion that we should amend the Constitution so that it “embodies God’s standard.” Although raised in the context of a debate about the nature of marriage, his remarks on their face raise the specter of more wide-spread mischief.

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Only Senator Obama and his family can make that decision. If he believes he no longer can worship at Trinity United Church of Christ in good conscience and needs to find a new church home, that’s his call. But I hope he does not feel impelled to resign his church membership for political reasons alone.

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