Do "presents a grave danger" and "poses a grave danger" share the same meaning?

(1) I wonder whether "poses a grave danger" is a substitute for "presents a grave danger."
(2) Does "the sober minds one wants consulted about the deployment
of nuclear weaponry" refer to "the sober minds one wants when consulted about the deployment of nuclear weaponry"?

Context:

COMPARED with the theocratic terrors of medieval Europe, or those
that persist in much of the Muslim world, the influence of religion
in the West now seems rather benign. We should not be misled by
such comparisons, however. The degree to which religious ideas still
determine government policies-especially those of the United
States - presents a grave danger to everyone. It has been widely
reported, for instance, that Ronald Reagan perceived the paroxysms
in the Middle East through the lens of biblical prophecy. He went so
far as to include men like Jerry Falwell and Hal Lindsey in his
national security briefings. It should go without saying that theirs
are not the sober minds one wants consulted about the deployment
of nuclear weaponry. For many years U.S. policy in the Middle East
has been shaped, at least in part, by the interests that fundamentalist Christians have in the future of a Jewish state. Christian "support
for Israel" is, in fact, an example of religious cynicism so transcendental as to go almost unnoticed in our political discourse.