Eleven ways religion influenced politics in 2011

From Rick Perry’s prayer revival to Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, religion has played an inspirational and controversial role on the campaign trail.

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Michele Bachmann, an evangelical Christian, was asked during an August GOP presidential debate whether she would submit to her husband in her potential role as president, after her previous comments on biblical submission were made public. Submission “means respect,” Bachmann replied during the debate.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

One week before Rick Perry formally announced his candidacy, he held The Response, a Christian prayer revival event in Houston. In his speech at the prayer event, Perry mentioned the economic downturn and other signs of national “darkness” before adding, “Because we know a loving God, we know that the greatest darkness comes just before the morning.”

David J. Phillip / AP

A spate of polls on Mormonism have provided some of the more comprehensive information on American attitudes about the faith of two presidential candidates (Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman). A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll showed “42 percent said a Mormon president would make them somewhat or very uncomfortable.”

Cheryl Senter / AP

At the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., Texas minister Robert Jeffress, who introduced Rick Perry, called Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith a ‘cult.’ Referencing Jeffress’s comments, Romney later said, “That idea that we should choose people based on their religion is the one that I find to be most troubling.”

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

After Herman Cain addressed allegations of sexual harassment, which he has denied, the presidential candidate and Gospel singer broke out into song at the National Press Club, intoning the Christian hymn “He looked beyond my faults.”

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Speaking about the need to radically overhaul the health care system during a September debate, Ron Paul suggested that churches may better fulfill the role of health care provider. “We’ve given up on this concept that we might assume responsibility for ourselves, that our neighbors, our friends, our churches would do it.”

Stephen Morton / Getty Images

During the first few weeks of her campaign, it was Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, who got attention for his religious beliefs. The Christian therapist has taken heat for work done at his clinic to attempt to alter the sexual orientation of gay clients and for his comments on a radio show comparing gay people to “barbarians” who “need to be educated, need to be disciplined.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Rick Santorum’s campaign has struggled to gain steam, but the former Pennsylvania senator has made social conservative and moral issues the focus of his campaign. In early November, he kicked off his “Faith, Family and Freedom” tour, a series of speeches on the “moral fabric of this country.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has made critique of secularism in America a core element of his political persona. Speaking at the Values Voter Summit, Gingrich said: “On the issue of God in American public life, a country created because we are endowed by our Creator, the courts have been historically wrong at least since the late 1940s and have gotten worse and worse, more and more anti-religious, more and more secular, and more and more hostile.”

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, like his opponent Mitt Romney, served as a Mormon missionary as a young adult. However, when asked during an interview this year if he is still a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Huntsman answered, “That’s tough to define,” to considerable critique from Mormon commentators.

Daniel Acker / Bloomberg

In late October, President Obama’s political team announced that D.C. pastor Rev. Derrick Harkins will head faith outreach for the Democratic National Committee, putting him at the helm of messaging about religion as the presidential campaign gets into more full swing.

Jason Reed / Reuters

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