Religious war and the 2012 candidates

Religion may always play a certain role in electing a new president--at least as far as the optics.  We tend to see photos of candidates attending church (never synagogue, for obvious reasons) and posing with pastors.  Nevertheless, with the exception of the Rev. Wright issue in 2008, religion is seldom directly addressed by the candidates, nor by the commentators.  Nevertheless, there have been two interesting injections of religion in this election in the past days that are both opposed to one another, and interesting (regardless of whether the criticisms are true).  This morning, the National Journal is reporting that Ryan is warning that Obama (or the Obama agenda) is a threat to Judeo-Christian values--the same values upon which this country was founded.  Nevermind the obvious vagueness of referring to the founding of the country upon Judeo-Christian values, and nevermind the fact that Ryan's affiliation with Randian objectivism (the philosophic system in which Randian libertarianism is situated) should require Ryan to reject religion, god and altruism.  Ryan's point is simply that Obamacare would violate the liberties of Catholic employers--not really a religious point at all.  On the other hand, Richard Dawkins has begun (or perhaps continued) to attack Romney's religion, referring to specific doctrine, some of which is illogical, some ridiculous, some outrageous and some racist. 

Though Dawkins' forthrightness may be a little distasteful (which is not to say that he is wrong), his honesty is refreshing.  It seems that Dawkins understands Mormonism more than Ryan does Catholicism or Ayn Rand.  Too bad Dawkins is not on the ballot--I may not vote for him, but I wouldn't find what comes from his mouth utterly laughable.