based on income. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning it is monday, september 21 2015. a live shot of the capital this morning where final preparations are underway for an anticipated visit by pope francis this week. a visit that will include a white house welcome and a high-profile address before lawmakers on capitol hill. it comes amid a heated 2016 primary season in which some candidates are wrestling with questions of religion and the presidency. we begin this morning by asking our viewers whether you consider religion when evaluating candidates and whether you think a president needs to be

religious. our phone lines are open this morning. democrats can call in (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. nts, (202) 748-8002. you can also catch up with us on or e-mail us.ter the 2016 presidential race includes six catholics, a seventh-day adventist, three southern baptists, an anglican, a christian, two presbyterians and an evangelical christian and that is just the republican primary field. the democratic field includes that fittest, catholic, piscitelli and and christian candidates. -- episcopalians and christian candidates. our phone lines are open this

morning. if you want to call in on this topic. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 four baptists the president in this country, for unitarians, three christian, two with no formal affiliation although historians continue to debate the nature of lincoln's religious police. two disciples of christ, a catholic and a congregationalist. you can see that chart on the pew research center.org. we are asking viewers to weigh in this morning. does it matter to you if a president is religious? some candidates are already wrestling with this question.

here is a headline from the new york times. gop field wrestles with questions of islam. in an interview on nbc's meet the press, mr. trump said he can envision a day when a muslim was president but he would not say how comfortable he was with the idea. was carson -- ben carson explicit in his opposition to a muslim being president. ben carson was on "meet the press" yesterday. here is a bit of his comments. [video clip] >> should a president's faith matter to voters? >> it depends on what that faith is. if it is consistent with the values and principles of america, of course it should matter. ofit fits within the realm america and consistent with the constitution, no problem. >> do you believe islam is

consistent with the constitution? >> i do not. i would not advocate that we put a muslim in charge of this nation. i absolutely would not agree with that. >> would you consider voting for a muslim for congress? >> congress is a different story but it depends on who's that muslim is what their policies are just as it depends on what anybody else's is. if there is somebody who is of any faith but they say things and their life has been consistent with things that will elevate this nation and make it possible for everybody to succeed and bring peace and harmony, i'm with him. host: ben carson's comments pounced on by other candidates. here is senator lindsey graham saying, then carson is not ready to be commander in chief. america is not owned by a particular religion.

senator sanders took to his twitter page as well and said people should be elected to office based on their ideas, not their religion or the color of their skin. he said it took us to long to overcome the prejudiced against electing a catholic or an african-american president. do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? let's start on our line for democrats. joyce's calling in from philadelphia. caller: good morning. popelly don't think by the , i don't our area too many are trained -- prayer or religion or anything to do with politics. idea itthat whoever's

was for that pope to come around us is because it was their personal thing. people want to pray. the pope coming, that will help us in our sole. ul. the pope is coming. it is great. people should let it be. we need it. nothing to do with politics. host: when you voted for presidential candidates in the past, have you ever thought about their religious affiliation? has that factored into your decision in the voting booth? caller: no. my mother always told me not to talk about my religion or politics because there are folks whose personal -- folks'

personal opinions. you don't have to agree with politics or religion. it's a personal thing. i never talked to anyone about the religion. i was in the episcopalian church. i still went to my own church. it is no big deal. i'm happy he is going to be around. whoever is not happy about it, god bless them. i think that it is a great thing. i have never seen the pope come here so close to where i have been living all my life. i think it is great and we should respect other people's religions. host: the pope will be here

later this week. he arrives at 3:45 on tuesday. the president and the first lady will be there to greet the pope. on wednesday, 8:45 a.m., he will be at a white house welcoming ceremony. , that 10:00 a.m. address, the joint meeting of congress. you can watch it all here on c-span. tune in this week for all the pope coverage. on friday he will be headed to new york for a speech at the u.n. general assembly. 11:30 that morning, a multi-religious service at the 9/11 memorial. do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? michael is waiting in arizona, line for republicans. caller: good morning. interesting topic. one of my favorite sentences in the constitution says, no

religious test as a qualification be required to any office or public trust under this constitution. thatsaying any candidate brings up his or her religious under the whatever assumption that he is trying to convince the voters that he is , heed a righteous candidate would be in violation of his promise to support to the constitution. when it says that no religious test shall be required, it means what it says. abhor anybody that comes to me for a vote or any other thing, comes to me and

suggests support him or believe theor her based on suggestion that they are indeed religious and therefore they can be trusted as moral and godly and holy. host: do you think candidates have to be seen as religious to be elected to office in this country? caller: say again? host: do you think it candidate has to be seen as religious? caller: he or she should not be. it should not enter the discussion if it says in the constitution that no religious test shall ever be a qualification for any office or public trust under the constitution. hasn't care if somebody their religion, it comes out. democrat, catholic, muslim,

whatever. that does not bother me at all. it is when the integrate their religious claims in their political rhetoric in an attempt to get votes from the faithful. , not illegal, but as a way toproper run a campaign. contraryy when it is to what the constitution says. we ought not to treat the constitution so lightly as ignoring this. host: let's go to our line for independents where allen is waiting. centreville, virginia. caller: good morning. mormon.closure, i am a

the same sort of process when mitt romney was running for president. her member had been criticized for his beliefs. candidates seemed to make comments angle toward distrusting him. is he going to be taking orders from salt lake city or the constitution. i think that is a real concern. that might be something in their favor. there is no real intellectual .est for intelligent i think a sizable portion of the electorate feels like you have to have skin in the game in order to protect certain rights, one of them being freedom of religion, freedom of speech. if you don't feel like -- if they don't feel like you have skin in the game, they may not

choose you to be the president. you can be agnostic, atheist and still be qualified to protect constitutional principles. the elect oral body believe you oral bodyhe elect believe you? host: do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? the backdrop of the pope coming to washington, d.c. this week and the 2016 campaign happening in full swing around this country. that is our question for viewers. you think a president needs to be religious? .s you are calling in -- a naturalgest born citizen or citizen of the united states at the time of the

adoption of the constitution shall be eligible of the office. it states he must be at least 35 years old. there is no mention of sex, race, or religion. i think we should consider that constitution as the law of the land. personalis a person's whatever. religions are ruling the mideast. you have religions against religion and nothing but wars. clearly thattate there is a separation of church and state. when we go over that role and knock it out, we are in trouble. no, i would not judge anyone by his religion. i have seen christians that are stupid. i've seen all kinds of -- it does not matter. you go by the quality of the person's demeanor.

we have got to get out of this religious mess. thank you so much. host: beverly in north carolina. you can keep calling and as we show you live pictures of the preparations that are underway on capitol hill for the pope's visit. we will be covering it on c-span. we want viewers to consider this question, do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? as you are dialing in, we will give you a preview of what's happening on capitol hill this week. we are joined by mike lillis on the phone, a congressional reporter from "the hill" newspaper. how much work is scheduled to get done on that front amid all of the festivities and pageantry on capitol hill surrounding the pope's visit? guest: that is the big question. we do not know. the closer it is, able monopolize.

thursday they have scheduled votes later in the day relating nothing to the standing fight. we still don't have a bill in the house so all eyes are on john boehner and republicans to see if they can come up with something. course, that is the $1 million question at the moment. host: is there a plan that is thought to be under wraps or are republicans still coming up with that plan? it looks like the democrats don't know the plan if republicans have it. guest: again, we don't know what their plan is. john boehner says he does not know what his plan is. he is in a difficult spot. we have seen this before but this year seems to be more intense than usual. on the one hand he is facing pressure from conservatives in

his own party to defund planned parenthood as part of the spending bill. if they don't put it on, the conservatives are going to vote against of the bill which means boehner whitney democrats to pass it. -- would need democrats to pass it. if it does pass the defunding, it does not pass in the senate likely and president obama would veto it. they are back at square one once again. on top of all of this, there is talk of a mutiny, a conservative coup. there is a threat that. -- the john boehner would face a vote to give up his speakership. all of these moving pieces. john boehner is in a tough spot. dammed if he does and didn't if he does not.

the republicans who are really -- who were really beat up two years ago for the shutdown, it did not hurt them at the polls in 2014 but you can bet he is getting calls from the jeb bush 's of the world who are telling them to fund the government so we don't get eat up because this is a big presidential year. host: the funding deadline, september 30. what are the chances that this gets punted for a few weeks or months by a short-term continuing resolution? is that gaining steam? guest: pretty guaranteed they will have to do a short-term spending bill. we don't know how long that would be. mitch mcconnell had said recently that he was looking to push it into the middle of december. democrats do not want to push that long. they don't think they need that much time.

shorter terms of they can wrap up the rest of the budget bills. we are anticipating a short-term spending bill will be followed by something called in on the omnibus thatd an would push spending into sometime next year. in 2011 the past of the budget control act. those caps are still in place and the republicans want to undo the dispense -- undo the defense caps. fight for later in the year. the question about the cr is how long. we do not know what it looks like or if it will have planned parenthood on it or the length of time. host: other deadlines coming up, the highway funding deadline coming up october 29.

another debt ceiling fight likely in the works mid december. all going to be covered by "the hill." appreciate your help this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: we are showing viewers live shots of capitol hill this morning were preparations are underway for the pope's visit later this week. the pope speaking in a meeting of congress on thursday at 10:00 a.m. we are asking viewers this morning, do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? an already heated 2016 battle. your thoughts on religion and politics, in particular the candidates you are looking at. hello.

my name is effie. i agree with two of the callers, keeping religion away from politics. i know people who go to church, bible class, and they are up in church on every committee and they are very rude people. just yesterday i walked out of church in the middle of the pastor's sermon when i felt like i was a guest on the set of fox news. he brought up kim davis. he brought up the religions that he was not on board with. i think that is wrong. we need to look at people's morals that way much heavier than religion. if you have got great morals, you will do the right thing. you don't need a bible held up and say, i will throw this at you if you don't do the right thing.

if you have good morals, you will do fine. host: effie in oxford, mississippi. newmarket, alabama. emile, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. religion has never come into it. dr. ben carson said yesterday that when asked about islam and what he supporting muslim for president, there it starts getting problematic. i do feel that normally religion does not play into it. freedom of religion is one of the basic freedoms and values of this country. it is embodied in the constitution. that runs 180 degrees from what the islam faith teaches their

religion. there is a narrative -- a marriage of church and state and all facets of life. know, at least i am not smart enough to know, how to reconcile those. another point, we have had cases where you have mitt romney who stated he would not be guided by any commandments coming out of the mormon church. jfk, same thing relative to the vatican. denied the of them fundamental tenets of their religion. they said they were not be guided by leaders of the religion. you go to islam. it is not a matter of a control -- i do not think there is a head of church and islam so to speak. there are the basic tenets.

host: do you know any muslim people in newmarket, alabama? do you talk to them about their religion? caller: i do not talk to them. i'm open to it but when i come to the idea of how you could have someone in high government office here who does not deny and would not deny the tenets of their faith -- and i would not ask them, i do not know high you get to that point. -- i do not know how you get to that point. i would have to listen to any candidate who would tell me how the most -- the muslim candidate, how they would do that. nation,""face the senator rand paul was asked about dr. ben carson's comments about him not feeling comfortable with a muslim as president. here's what senator paul had to say. [video clip] >> i think it is not so much

what religion you are, it's what you stand for. i don't think we are anywhere near that happening. they are a small minority in our population. the hard part is, while we are eight pluralistic society -- we are a pluralistic society, the problem is that people attacking us have been of one religion. it is hard to separate that. i understand people saying -- >> would you have a problem with a muslim president? >> i try to see that as a separate thing, someone's religion. we were attacked by people who were all muslim. i think it is incumbent -- civilized islam needs to step up and say this does not represent us. host: senator rand paul on "face yesterday. thoughts.t your

q can call in as we continue to show you live shots of capitol hill were preparations are underway for pope francis' visit to capitol hill and washington, d.c. later this week . a few tweets that have come in on this question. stella says, no practicing muslim conserve the people and follow the chiron or islam -- follow the quran or islam. if the candidate seeks public office or has the ability to impose his or her religion on all of us, that is a different matter. lisa says the question could be asked if no religion matters. this too can be an issue if the candidate is an atheist or agnostic. religion is a personal matter and has no place in politics. leave your superstitions at the door when you go to work. you can call us this morning. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001.

.ndependents, (202) 748-8002 terry is on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say thank you for c-span. you're the best informative group on tv. now i would like to say, look at the example we have before us. our wonderful president accepting our holy father who we all love. isn't that wonderful? host: that is terry, south river, new jersey. larry, line for republicans. caller: are you familiar with the 16th amendment? host: explain the 16th amendment. caller: the 16th amendment says there is no test for religion allowed in becoming a president or any other public office. any other federal public office.

you cannot say we cannot elect a muslim. it is against the constitution. host: do you think people can factor in a candidate's religion in their decision? do you think that happens? caller: i think personally people can but there is -- host: you don't do that? is that what you are saying? no, i don't. gnostic -- i am in am agnostic. good morning, you're on the washington journal. caller: thank you for taking my call. the first is, i am an american

born physician in northern virginia and i am disturbed by some of the comments people are making about islam. i am also a muslim. islam does not advocate a compulsion of religion and within islam there is no ability or role to force others to follow their religion. individuals making those comments are incorrect. i am disturbed by some of the republican candidates in particular who have recently made disparaging comments about muslim political leaders or the potential for muslims to lead america. i think those comments are themselves or those individuals themselves are anti-american for denying individuals of a certain faith from participating in political government. lastly, i am shocked by ben ,arson as an african-american he should be sensitive to issues.

even now there are individuals in this country who would argue that african americans in particular should not run for president or could not be involved in the political process. such minority to preach racist views is a little shocking. host: where do you think this comes from? do you think it is a matter of not knowing muslims in people's own community and simply seeing some of the worst headlines coming out of syria and iraq? caller: correct. there are problems with radical islam abroad and there have been threats to america. i think one of the biggest problems is that americans, meaning american non-muslims, are closing their eyes to american muslims. they don't get to develop any meaningful relationships. i think if that was done, they would recognize that american muslims are just like any other americans.

contributors to society and they have the same values and concerns other americans express. o hassant's go to th waiting. caller: thank you for taking my call. is, as one whoy checks history and law, we check the etymology of religion, dealing with where you are as far as reading again. the two words that make up religion means to read again. if we read again the constitution as the gentleman from arizona had said so eloquently about article six, paragraph three. representatives before mentioned

and members of the several state legislatures and all executive and judicial offices in the united states and several states shall be bound by oath of affirmation to support this constitution but no religious test shall be required. qualification to any office of public trust under this constitution. that was ratified in 1791. if we look back in history about ,ive or six years later authored by joel barlow in 1796, the following treaty was sent to the floor of the senate june 7 where it was read aloud in its entirety and unanimously approved, john adams having seen this treaty proclaimed it to the nation. article 11 states -- host: you're talking about religious tests that are not allowed in this country but do you think -- do people have

their own religious tests that they do it personally in the voting booth? caller: for one to ask that question, one would have to qualify the words you used to ask that question. you asked personally. getting my comment now is me getting what i personally think people should use in measuring. love, truth, peter -- freedom, peace, and justice. there's nothing religious about that. host: do you think candidates talk too much about their religion on the campaign trail? timer: at one point in barack obama was a candidate. in cairo a few years back he harmonized with article 11 of that fifth congress where it says the government of the united states of america is not founded on the christian religion as it has in itself no character of entity against loss

or tranquility. as states never entered into any war or hostility against any , never produceon an interruption of harmony existing between two countries. you guys can research that, that is in history authored by american diplomat joel barlow in 1796. we want to get a few more callers in. a lot of people wanting to talk about this topic. do you consider religion when evaluating a candidate? jim is in south dakota, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i never thought about it one way withother except i agree dr. carson on no muslim leading

the country. host: why just muslims? caller: you see them on tv, burning our flag. what do they expect us to think? host: what do you say to the caller who said he was muslim and that if you got to know him and his views, you would understand more about the muslim culture and what is happening in isis, iraq, and syria is not the muslim culture. ? caller: look at that airline stewardess that refused to serve drinks. their the beginning of viewpoint forced on americans that you should not have a job in the first place. articlere is a recent from the christian science monitor.

bernie sanders talking about his jewish faith saying, i'm proud .o be jewish he said, i'm not particularly religious. sander said being jewish taught him what politics is about. he set a guy named adolf hitler and 50 million people died as a result of the election in world war ii including 6 million jews. what i learned is that politics is in fact very important. a recent piece in the christian science monitor. we are asking you to continue to call in. we are showing you some live shots this morning from capitol hill where preparations are underway for pope francis' visit later this week. and membersidates of congress being asked about their religion this week ahead of the pope's visit. senator marco rubio was on "this week" and he talked about being

a catholic elected official and how he views the pope. [video clip] >> for me, the pope is the spiritual head of the church who has authority to speak on .atters i followed 100% on those issues. i believe that deeply. the pope as an individual is an important figure in the world. he also has political opinions. we are free to disagree. he opines about his views on the church's role and what we should be doing with the climate and things of that nature. those are issues that the church talks about with regards to social teachings -- the way you balance government with society. on social teachings, issues like the sanctity of life and things of this nature, two to the theology and i believe strongly in them. on economic issues are geopolitical issues, the pope is trying to bring people together. . respect that very much

i have a job as a united states senator to act in the best interest of the united states and our people. that may lead to different opinions about different things but i have no problem with the pope. host: the new york times looking ahead to the pope's visit notes that it is a time catholics play an outsized role in the highest levels of government and the united states. six of the nine supreme court justices are catholic as are 31% of the members of congress. first -- theis the nation's first catholic vice president. six catholic republicans are running for president. a seventh, john kasich, was a catholic altar boy nicknamed hope because he aspired -- nicknamed pope because he to the vatican before

migrating in adulthood to the protestant church. martin o'malley is also catholic. time for a few more calls. do you consider religion when evaluating candidates? gil is in north carolina. good morning. caller: very interesting question being posed this morning. i would like to make this comment. this goes beyond religion. i agree with the previous callers regarding the constitution, stating that there should not be a criteria test for the highest public office. host: do you think that means people should not have a criteria test in their own personal choices when they go to the voting booth? caller: i'm not saying that. i'm saying, for your personal choice, that can make a difference. predicated what is

on what a leader of a country should be, we have never had a japanese american president, a greek american president, a jewish american president. i can go on and on in that regard. via theappropriate, media and various denominations in our country ascribes what a leader should be. the tremendous prejudices that we have dictate who should be a leader. biasesently, i think the that have been fostered by the media, by various denominations, sets the premise for what we think a leader should be. we have never had an italian-american president. i can continue and go down the line. affectrejudices i think

what we are looking for. we martin luther king said, should judge a person on the content of their character and enough of this political correctness. let's judge a person on their moral correctness. , theiroral character intelligence and leadership qualities. that is my comment for today. host: carol on twitter says, i don't factor in religion because one possible religion does not necessarily mean having scruples. jeff writes that the anti-muslim comments reflect the caller's ignorance. we have to practice the quality we preach. as go to our line for republicans. darwin is waiting. good morning. caller: good morning to you. i have a quran.

it is a virgin of -- it is a version of our bible. all i suggest the people that say there may not be a dispute with their religion, read it. concentrate on it. i don't believe -- i cannot , any of our forefathers who wrote the constitution or bill of rights ever had to deal with the muslim quran. to me it is a book so far out in left field and some of the reflections we are seeing today are quran following people. pick one up at the bookstore, read it and call back a month from now and say i have a different opinion. host: do you pick up the religious books of other religions? isit just the muslim religion you are concerned about ?

caller: i critique other religions. i am a lutheran. , critique catholic, methodist even catholics are so close to the protestants it is scary. i understand the mormon religion. i have no problem. they do not print in their book what their ultimate goal is. darwin.at is with go to our line for democrats were kathy has been waiting in kentucky. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. concerned is, i am that we have to have a religious politician tor a run for office.

people should realize that politicians will use any method possible to get votes. for them to use religionpeople t politicians will as the reason to vote for them is nefarious because they have turned religion in the political world, they have turned it into animus for other americans that turns it into hatred and degradation of others. religion should not be a reason to vote for a politician. the content of their character and their ideas should be the reason to vote for a politician. sarah from vernon, new york, the line for independents. caller: thank you for taking my call. when a child is sarah from vernw york, the line for born and they start growing up, we are supposed to teach them not to hate. look what we are doing.

we are separating people by religions. we are calling all muslims bad when that is not true. the morality of the person, what he or she has done in her life or not done, that should make the difference. it should not be voted on religion. i listened to a show you had last week and i never heard so much hate coming out of so many people. i'm 63. i'm not real old, but i am old. it is time to stop. as far as me voting, it would not make a difference. host: thank you for the