(Thumbnail image: The New York Times)

After the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, for the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court will be left without a Protestant member. Of the remaining justices six are Catholic and two are Jewish. Now, some people are questioning if it's necessary to have a Protestant justice.

We're looking at perspectives from CNN, the Los Angeles Times, examiner.com and MSNBC.

Rice University professor Michael Lindsay tells CNN one reason he thinks Catholic and Jewish faiths have come to dominate the Supreme Court:  It comes down to how they approach faith and politics.

"Evangelicals have put more effort into getting elected than in getting onto the bench.  Electoral politics is more similar to the style of rallying of around revival campaign than it is to the arduous journey of producing intellectual giants that could be eligible for the Supreme Court."

In fact, historically — the opposite has been true.  CNN notes three quarters of all justices have been Protestants.  And a law professor tells The Los Angeles Times, representation is important for Protestants when over half of Americans identify themselves as such.

"Without [Protestant representation], 'you could have an undermining of confidence in the court, a sense of a lack of participation... especially when the court is dealing with high-voltage issues like religious freedom.'"

But others argue the position should be based solely on intellect and experience. The Philadelphia Protestant Examiner's Ron Bohr says Article VI of the U.S. Constitution would be violated if a justice is picked based on religion. The Article reads:

"'...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.' What part of no religious test shall ever be required don't some of our citizens understand?"

On MSNBC New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer  — who is Jewish — says the public isn't concerned about religion in selecting a new justice.  

"The American people care less, I'm sure if you asked them before this came about, what is the religious make up of the nine members of the Supreme Court, they'd have no idea. And that may be because religious discrimination is no longer sort of a hot button issue that say racial discrimination or discrimination against gender is."

So, what do you think? Is it important that a Protestant become the newest Supreme Court justice? Or should religion be left out of the selection process?