Religion An Important Part of Yesterday's Republican Candidate Debates

Faith and religion were an important part of the Q&A in last night's Republican presidential candidate debate held in Manchester, New Hampshire. The full transcript of the debate is available online, as is a CNN summary with video clips. At one point, reporter Wolf Blitzer asked candidate Rudy Giuliani about a Catholic bishop's strong criticism of Giuliani's stance on abortion rights. As Giuliani began to answer, lightning from a storm outside briefly cut off the microphone. Giuliani joked that this was a "frightening" thing for someone who went to parochial school all his life.

The debate also gave several of the candidates an opportunity to explain their views on the evolution vs. creationism debate, and gave candidate Mitt Romney a chance to respond to those who are concerned about his Mormon religious beliefs. In response to a question from Wolf Blitzer, Romney said:

President Kennedy some time ago said he was not a Catholic running for president, he was an American running for president. And I'm happy to be a proud member of my faith.

You know, I think it's a fair question for people to ask, what do you believe? And I think if you want to understand what I believe, you could recognize that the values that I have are the same values you'll find in faiths across this country.

I believe in God, believe in the Bible, believe Jesus Christ is my savior. I believe that God created man in his image. I believe that the freedoms of man derive from inalienable rights that were given to us by God.

And I also believe that there are some pundits out there that are hoping that I'll distance myself from my church so that that'll help me politically. And that's not going to happen.

Meanwhile the website Media Matters accused CNN of incorrectly reporting that Democratic candidates had not talked about their faith and values until very recently. The website says that at least some of the Democratic candidates have talked about their faith and values for years.