Mitt Romney's Mormon religion has never been a disqualifier for the presidency as far as I am concerned. Why should I be any more concerned about a president believing that an angel named Moroni handed down golden tablets to the founder of his religion in the 19th century than I am about a president believing in a religion founded on the idea that a god-man rose from the dead 2,000 years ago? What does disqualify Romney in my view is that he is yet another right-wing religious candidate who wants to further erode the barrier between church and state.

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People who are living longer with AIDS and HIV today owe their continued existence not to religion or religious leaders but to scientists who have developed new drugs in laboratories over the past two decades. Religion has, historically, been used more frequently to foster resignation in the poor, sick, and oppressed--by promising them an eternal reward in the next world--than it has been used to change the conditions of their earthly lives.

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This annual nonsense about so-called political correctness "taking the Christ out of Christmas" must come from people who walk around this time of year with blindfolds over their eyes and plugs in their ears. I just came out of a plumbing supply store with the sounds of "The First Noel" and "The Little Drummer Boy," purveyed by one of those loathsome all-Christmas, all the time radio stations, ringing in my ears. It seems to me that there is a creche on every corner, although, since this is New York, there are also plenty of supersized electric menorahs.

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'Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the House
Not a brain cell was stirring
Though non-Christians groused.
But Christians can revel with nary a care
For Congress hath spoken: elections are near.

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I don't want to hear a word--not one bloviating word--about any candidate's personal "moral values." Self-assured, decent people don't feel obliged to assure the voters of their decency. Their values are evident from the way they live and the policies for which they have worked. By their fruits ye shall know them. (You don't have to consider the Bible to be the word of God to recognize its great lines--especially in the King James version.)

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