Gov. Rick Perry’s new campaign ad, “Strong,” features the line “... there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” In addition to being pointless and harmful, ads like this take the focus away from the true issues a candidate would face once in office.

In a time of increasing economic pressures both here and abroad, continued military action in the Middle East and domestic upheaval, a candidate’s religious beliefs have little to no bearing on his or her potential performance as president. We can’t learn anything about the specific policies politicians will support from a crusading promise and a reaffirmation of their religious beliefs.

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