There will be some who argue that it is a big deal that Senator Thompson does not attend church regularly. I disagree.

Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson, who has based his campaign on appealing to conservative voters, said he isn't a regular churchgoer and doesn't plan to speak about his religion on the stump.

Thompson, in his first campaign stop in South Carolina, told a crowd of about 500 Republicans yesterday that he gained his values from ``sitting around the kitchen table'' with his parents and ``the good Church of Christ.''

Talking to reporters later, Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said his church attendance ``varies.''

``I attend church when I'm in Tennessee. I'm in McLean right now,'' he said referring to the Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., where he lives. ``I don't attend regularly when I'm up there.''

Thompson said he usually attends church when visiting his mother in Tennessee and isn't a member of any church in the Washington area.

Frankly, this doesnÂ’t matter to me. After all, we saw the Clintons traipsing in and out of church during the 1990s, and it made not a whit of difference in how Bill governed or how Hillary wants to lead us. And besides, faith and values are more of an internal thing.

I also cannot help but remember the habits of the greatest president of my lifetime, Ronald Reagan. Not a regular church-goer during his presidency, he still led this country wisely in a direction consistent with the values I and many Christians hold. The question is whether or not Thompson (or some other candidate) can and will do the same, regardless of whether or not his (or her) seat warms a pew on the weekend. Just as I donÂ’t consider RomneyÂ’s Mormonism to be a disqualifying factor, neither do I consider ThompsonÂ’s Sunday morning worship practices.

Posted by: Greg at 12:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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