Mitt Romney Weighs the Pros and Cons on Bigotry

Decides in the End That Bigotry is Bad, Comes Out Against It

One of the more interesting facets of a Values Voter Summit held in Washington recently was the degree of condemnation and bigotry against the Mormon religion of Mitt Romney.  Mr. Romney said very little on the subject after that session, he just did not comment extensively on how inappropriate and appalling the comments against his religion were.

Apparently Mr. Romney was waiting to see if being against bigotry was a politically winning position, and apparently he finally decided that it was.  So Mr. Romney took the occasion of his endorsement by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a man who had courageously come out against bigotry against Muslims (the state of the Republican party today is such that a person who opposes religious prejudice is considered courageous) and stated that he is opposed to hatred and prejudice against his chosen religion.

Mr. Christie said recent comments about Mr. Romney’s Mormon faith made by a pastor who supports Gov. Rick Perry of Texas were unacceptable and out of bounds for a presidential race.

Mr. Romney took the issue one step further and called on Mr. Perry to “repudiate the sentiments and remarks” of the pastor. He added, “I don’t believe that that kind of divisiveness based on religion has a place in this country.”

While he did not say so, one could assume that should polls show that supporting the hateful comments that appeared over the weekend would be beneficial, Mr. Romney would be willing to reconsider his position.  For Mr. Christieone can assume that he was inquiring about the office facilities for the Attorney General, a position he obviously expects to take in January 2013.

One of the most eloquent statements on the issue came from Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith, a Jewish based civil rights group, as reported by Jennifer Rubin, Conservative (what else) columnist of the Washington Post.

“If voters are to take Pastor Jeffress literally, then candidates who are not sufficiently Christian would not be welcome in the presidential race,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “There is no place in our society for divisive appeals based on a person’s religious faith, and that is especially true of candidates for high office.

“The Constitution explicitly states that there is no religious test for public office in the United States, and each of the presidential contenders bears a responsibility to make clear that appeals to ethnic or religious bigotry have no place in this campaign,” Mr. Foxman added. 

This sentiment was clearly aimed at Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Ms. Rubin went on to say this applied to candidates Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain who had both ducked the issue over the past weekend.