The GOP Religious Test

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." – Article VI, United States Constitution

Despite this constitutional proscription against any religious test for public office, the modern-day Republican Party does have a de facto religious test for its candidates for public office due to the makeup of the GOP electorate.

Governor Rick Perry (TX), Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN), and pseudo-candidate half-term Gov. Sarah Palin (AK) come from the radical religious right Christian Reconstructionism and Dominionism evangelical movements. A Google search of their religious beliefs and public pronouncements turns up a substantial amount of disturbing reporting. The politically aware have seen and read these reports. But what about the politically disengaged?

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA) is a conservative Catholic who sees himself as an anti-abortion and anti-gay culture warrior.

Former Godfather's Pizza chairman Herman Cain is a Southern Baptist who is given to Islamophobia and would deny Muslim American citizens their constitutional right to practice their religion in their house of worship in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Former Governors Willard Mitt Romney (MA) and Jon Huntsman (UT) are both Mormons. The "hesitancy" towards their candidacies among conservative GOP voters, as the media villagers coyly like to call it, is a euphemism for religious bigotry towards Mormons from both mainstream religions and the radical religious right Christian Reconstructionism and Dominionism evangelical movements in the South and Bible Belt. Mormons have long been viewed with suspicion as a cult and false religion.

This is the political calculation that Governor Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and perhaps former Gov. Sarah Palin have made: they know that Willard Mitt Romney, a Mormon, cannot win in the South or in the Bible Belt more broadly. He cannot get to the number of delegates he needs to win the nomination. Period.

A series of early primary wins in these states beginning with South Carolina and Florida can spell doom for the Romney campaign, as it did in 2008 when former Governor Mike Huckabee (AR) blocked his way in the South and Bible Belt states, eventually paving the way for John McCain. See 2012 Primary Schedule « 2012 Election Central:

Monday, January 16, 2012: Iowa caucuses

Tuesday, January 24: New Hampshire

Saturday, January 28: Nevada caucuses, South Carolina

Tuesday, January 31: Florida

Tuesday, February 7 (Super Tuesday): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana Republican caucuses, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah

Saturday, February 11: Louisiana

Tuesday, February 14: Maryland

The writing could well be on the wall as early as Valentine's Day, or by the next "Super Tuesday" on March 6 when Texas and Virginia host primaries.

This is the first GOP presidential primary since 1980 in which there is not a Republican candidate who is considered "next in line" for the GOP nomination. There is not a John McCain candidate this year whom Republican voters will reluctantly decide "ah hell, it's his turn." But Republican voters do have a "herd mentality" and will flock to the candidate who appears to have momentum in the early primaries and looks to be a winner. This inures to the benefit of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann at present.

Both of these candidates have troubling religious beliefs that they wear on their sleeves. They have made outrageous public pronouncements as to how they would govern based on their beliefs. They are openly running on their religious faith as candidates of the Religious Right, which makes their religious beliefs and how it affects the way they govern a legitimate topic for inquiry. It is time the corporate media villagers stop being squeamish about asking these questions since the candidates themselves have injected their religious faith as a de facto religious test into the GOP presidential primary.

UPDATE: If you want to learn more about Christian Reconstuctionism and Dominionism beliefs of these GOP candidates, see this report by Michelle Goldberg at The Daily Beast. Dominionism: Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry’s Dangerous Religious Bond.