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At a campaign stop attended by a CBS reporter in Lady's Island, S.C., Thompson was asked if he, "as a Christian, as a conservative," supported President Bush's global AIDS initiative. "Christ didn't tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it," Thompson responded. "The government has its role, but we need to keep firmly in mind the role of the government, and the role of us as individuals and as Christians on the other."

God-o-Meter caught up with Fred Thompson and his wife Jeri at various South Carolina events this week and has cobbled together this Q&A from a few separate exchanges. God-o-Meter has lots more to say about the Thompsons' answers--and will--but it has to head off to interview Ron Paul at Bob Jones University. God-o-Meter: Do you think religion is playing too big a role in the presidential race? Fred Thompson: I don’t have any feelings a long those lines. I think people have a right to express themselves, including people of faith, no question about it, and they’re participating and I’m...

GO FRED!   Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Fred on Religion   [Mark Hemingway] A nice bit from Thompson regarding his thoughts on religion: A woman asked him if he would “as a Christian, as a conservative” continue President Bush’s programs to combat global AIDS. “Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it,” Thompson said. “The government has its role, but we need to keep firmly in mind the role of the government, and the role of us as individuals and as...

Many on the Christian right are taking a hard look at Fred "The Tennessee Stud" Thompson, and wondering just how much enthusiasm they can muster for the man. Recent articles chronicle a clear desire for a Republican candidate who, like George W. Bush before him, will trod the well-worn path that non-believer Karl Rove cut in the ticket separating politics from religion. So, is Thompson their man? Indeed, the subject of religion came up a lot yesterday on the campaign trail, and I'm happy to report that Thompson doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for it. From the...

Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson, who has based his campaign on appealing to conservative voters, said he isn't a regular churchgoer and doesn't plan to speak about his religion on the stump. Thompson, in his first campaign stop in South Carolina, told a crowd of about 500 Republicans yesterday that he gained his values from ``sitting around the kitchen table'' with his parents and ``the good Church of Christ.'' Talking to reporters later, Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said his church attendance ``varies.'' ``I attend church when I'm in Tennessee. I'm in McLean right now,'' he said referring to the...

Chalk it up as another quirk of the 2008 GOP presidential field: The top-tier Repubican who entered the race as the supposed godsend for socially conservative voters in the Bible Belt who are dissatisfied with the other candidates is someone who does not attend church on a regular basis. Asked about his religious beliefs during an appearance before about 500 Republicans in South Carolina yesterday, Fred Thompson said he attends church when he visits his mother in Tennessee but does not belong to a church or attend regularly at his home in McLean, Va., just outside Washington. The actor and...