Would a Candidates Religion Affect My Vote?

The question seems to be coming up, especially as Mitt Romney is to speak on religion tonight. I just want to address that quickly from the point of view of this blog -- knowledge and development.

I would worry about the mental stability of someone who said he heard voices of supernormal guidance, or worse thought himself to be devine. Mental instability suggests inability to process information.

I would worry about someone who was a member of a cult. According to Wikipedia:

Cult roughly refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception.

What would concern me would be the possibility that a cult was influencing its members not to think critically or to obtain information from a variety of reliable sources, but rather limiting member thinking to narrow, approved channels.

Religions differ in their demands on the beliefs of their members. Some which require protestations of dogmatic faith from adherents, also have histories that suggest that their dogma is not credible. One might, I suggest, reasonably refrain from voting from an adherent of such a religion on the basis of their possible credulity, and the possibility that it might transfer from the realm of religion to that of statecraft.