Jim Poniewozik raises this point:
Speaking of which, why, exactly, does it constitute “bigotry” to vote against someone on the basis of their religion? Religious beliefs are relevant, strong and foundational–as political candidates never tire of reminding us. No one calls it bigotry when someone votes for a candidate explicitly because, say, he cites Jesus Christ as his favorite philosopher. Yet it seems that, as a society, we’ve decided that you’re allowed to make judgments based on a candidate’s religion–but only positive ones.
Yesterday, I posted a link to JFK’s famous 1960 speech before the Houston Ministerial Association. There are many difference between Romney’s situation today and Kennedy’s back then, as Michael Duffy explains in this story for TIME.com. But what constitutes prejudice has not changed. At the very end, after his grilling by that hostile audience and his repeated assertions that the Vatican would not guide his decisionmaking on issues of public policy, comes the moment when JFK eloquently summed up the difference between legitimate inquiry about his faith, and bigotry.:
“I am delighted to come here today. I don’t want anyone to think because they interrogate me on this very important question, that I regard that as an unfair question, or unreasonable, or that somebody who is concerned about the matter is prejudiced or bigoted. I think this fight for religious freedom is basic to the establishment of the American system. Any candidate for office, I think, should submit himself to the questions of any reasonable man.
My only objection would be, my only limit to that would be, if somebody said, regardless of Senator Kennedy’s position, regardless of how much evidence he’s given that what he says he means, I still wouldn’t vote for him, because he’s a member of that church. I would consider that unreasonable.
What I consider to be reasonable, and an exercise of free will and free choice, is to ask the candidate to state his views as broadly as possible, investigate his record to see if what he states he believes, and then to make an independent, rational judgment as to whether he could be entrusted with this high position.”
