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No Religious Tests For Public Office, Remember?

US Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore shares anti-religious prejudice of Democrats Feinstein, Durbin, and Sanders

I’m old enough to remember a time when conservatives rightly railed against Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin for their inquisition of a conservative Catholic judicial nominee Amy Coney Barrett. They correctly pointed out that the Constitution forbids religious tests for public office. It is a deeply un-American thing to do. Bernie Sanders was guilty of the same thing earlier this year, haranguing Evangelical Christian OMB nominee Russell Vought.

Today I saw that headline above atop a 2006 Roy Moore column saying that Congress should refuse to seat Rep. Keith Ellison because of his Muslim faith. In the piece, Moore compared the Koran to Mein Kampf.

I expect that every conservative who raised their voices to condemn the anti-religious bigotry of Feinstein, Durbin, and Sanders will do the same to condemn Roy Moore’s un-American prejudice. We cannot have that in this country. I think it’s perfectly permissible to deplore his religion, just as I think it’s perfectly permissible to deplore Amy Coney Barrett’s religion. But that must not ever prohibit them from public office, unless there is solid reason to believe that they would substitute their religious beliefs for the law of the land. As it turns out, that’s actually true of Roy Moore, who believes that the First Amendment does not apply to Muslims, Buddhists, and other religious believers who are neither Jewish nor Christian. This is not a matter of theology. It’s a matter of Constitutional law.

By the way, Sen. Rand Paul, who loves to talk about the importance of defending the Constitution, endorsed Roy Moore for Senate today, on account of Roy Moore being a big defender of the Constitution, the First Amendment of which Moore believes only applies to Jews and Christians. Whatever, man. Principles in our politics these days are as out of place as Girl Scouts in a whorehouse.

In related news, a Fox News poll in the Alabama Senate race turns up surprising numbers: Judge Roy Moore, the populist Republican, is running neck-and-neck with his Democratic opponent.  In a state as deep-red as Alabama, this is startling — or so it seems to me. I would have thought a US Senate race in that state would be a cakewalk for any Republican. Alabama readers, any idea what’s going on? Is Roy Moore too radical even for Alabama?

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