The questions should not have been answered. An outright refusal should have been the response as in “Honored Sir, I fail to see the pertinence of that question to the subject at hand and I respectfully ask you to withdraw it as it is a clear violation of this country’s ban on a religious test for those who hold office.” My private religious beliefs are not up for discussion in this forum. Please continue with another line of questioning.”
You and I are on the exact same page. See my post 16. (If I had read the entire thread first I probably wouldn’t have commented because I like your response a lot!)