Religion in the Republican Race for the Nomination – About as Ugly as It Can Get

Mr. Cain, Ms. Bachmann Apparently Afraid of Offending the Bigots Who Reject Mr. Romney’s Mormon Religion

The issue of whether or not Mormonism is a part of Christianity seems to be a simple one, even to The Dismal Political Economist, who is not a Christian.  Mormons are Christians.  There, we said it.  Nothing to it.  No problem.  Didn’t hurt at all.  No fire and brimstone railing down upon this Forum.

That simple statement appears to be too much for Presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain. 

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) refused to say on Sunday that Mitt Romney is a Christian, instead stressing religious tolerance in the country.

“Well you know, this is so inconsequential as far as this campaign is concerned," the Republican presidential candidate said when asked about Romney's faith by CNN "State of the Union" host Candy Crowley. . . .Pressed on the issue, Bachmann spoke about her own faith and insisted that questioning a candidate's faith is a distraction.

Mr. Cain is apparently in the same camp as Ms. Bachmann

“He’s a Mormon, that much I know,” Cain said. “I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that.”

As for the religious tolerance that Ms. Bachmann cares so dearly about, there is this

At the Values Voter summit in Washington, Robert Jeffress, a prominent evangelical leader, told reporters that Mormonism was a cult and that Romney was not a Christian.

And who is Robert Jeffress?

Jeffress is a supporter of a Romney rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry , and introduced Perry at the summit to rousing applause.

Jeffress, whose church is a prominent member of the Southern Baptist Convention, began making his point during the introduction: “Do we want a candidate who is a good moral person, or do we want a candidate who is a born-again follower of Jesus Christ? In Rick Perry, we have a candidate who is a committed follower of Christ.”

which in addition to bringing bigotry and hatred to a “Values” conference also brings the implication that Mr. Jeffress’s candidate, Mr. Perry, is not a moral person but that’s ok since he is a “born again follower of Jesus”. Probably not what Mr. Jeffress intended.   The comments also raise the question of why anyone who is not a Christian should even consider supporting Republicans who tolerate this sort of thing in their party.

No one should feel badly for Mr. Romney.  The more of these attacks he gets the better he looks.  In fact, while it appears that Mr. Jeffress is supporting Mr. Perry’s campaign, it is hard to imagine there is anything he could do that is more destructive to Mr. Perry’s chances and more supportive of Mr. Romney’s candidacy then making the remarks that he has made.