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BEAVERTON, OREGON, August 15, 2004: This article in the Los Angeles Times reports on comments President Bush made during campaign meetings in Oregon. Excerpts:



President Bush’s critics accuse him of wearing his religious faith on his sleeve. But this last week, the president more often seemed to be keeping it under a bushel. At town hall-style events from Niceville, Fla., to Albuquerque to Beaverton, Ore., many supporters posed the president with religiously themed questions and comments about faith, prayer and issues such as abortion and stem cell research.



An audience member asked if he was a Christian. “Yes, I am,” the president said, quickly turning the question into a lesson in religious tolerance. “You have a right in this country to worship freely,” Bush said. “It is a fundamental right that must never change. And if you choose to worship the Almighty, you are equally American if you’re a Christian, Jew, Muslim or Hindu. “That’s the precious nature of how we view religion in this country. That freedom to worship and not be condemned because of the choice you make … must be jealously guarded by any of us, Republican or Democrat or independent, who are honored with a public office.”

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