In 1928, when Al Smith became the first Catholic to run for the presidency, there was great tension at the Democratic Convention in Houston. The concurrent debate about Prohibition was a useful mask for anti-Catholicism, but when Smith agreed to run on a “dry” platform, the mask came off. On the second day of the convention, Sen. Joseph Robinson of Arkansas added these words to his speech: “Jefferson glorified in the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. He rejoiced in the provision of the Constitution that declares no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for office or trust in the United States.” The veteran reporter Charles Willis Thompson described the scene that followed:
It had not relation to anything in the speech, and was added for a purpose. It was like touching off dynamite. At any other time it would have passed as a platitude, but its significance was instantly grasped….Forty-three states of the union rose and paraded wildly around the hall, cheering in frenzied enthusiasm this mere statement of a historical and uncontroverted fact. Five southern states refused to join in, signifying their disapproval of what Jefferson and the constitution said about religious freedom. These five southern states were the ones notoriously most under the influence of the Ku Klux Klan.
Willis went on to conclude hopefully that the “Democratic sore spot was religious bigotry. The Democrats lanced it – savagely.”
But, the problem was not lanced and, before the year was out, a palm card was distributed by Republicans in Florida that read, “If he is chosen President, you will not be allowed to have or read a Bible.” The Christian Index, published by Georgia Baptists, warned “Put Alfred E. Smith’s church into power and out goes the people’s democratic constitution, and with it goes popular representative government; with it goes free press, free worship, every Baptist and Protestant church and Masonic lodge closed.” The Lutheran Editors’ Association adopted a resolution against electing a Catholic to the presidency. On election day, the “Solid South” was not so solid and Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri all failed to support Al Smith.
In 1960, anti-Catholic bigotry came from both the left and the right. Paul Blanshard of the Nation made a career of warning against Catholicism and Hubert Humphrey, during the primaries, used as his campaign theme song “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” Kennedy barely crossed the fifty percent threshold in several southern states in his race against Richard Nixon. Kennedy’s narrow victory was a big nail in the coffin of anti-Catholic bigotry, but it would be foolish to think that anti-Catholicism has been buried. Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas has said that:
Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn’t come from God’s Word, it comes from that cult-like, pagan religion. Now you say, ‘pastor how can you say such a thing? That is such an indictment of the Catholic Church. After all the Catholic Church talks about God and the Bible and Jesus and the Blood of Christ and Salvation.
Isn’t that the genius of Satan? If you want to counterfeit a dollar bill, you don’t do it with purple paper and red ink, you’re not going to fool anybody with that. But if you want to counterfeit money, what you do is make it look closely related to the real thing as possible.
And that’s what Satan does with counterfeit religion. He uses, he steals, he appropriates all of the symbols of true biblical Christianity, and he changes it just enough in order to cause people to miss eternal life.
Rev. Jeffress made other news this past weekend when he called Mormonism a “cult” and suggested that while Mitt Romney may be a moral man, it is better to support a born-again follower of Jesus Christ for the presidency. Jeffress later tried to tone down his remarks, saying that he meant the term “cult” in its theological not its sociological sense, but he was not speaking from a pulpit when he used the term, he was speaking to reporters. This anti-Mormon bigotry is of a piece with the anti-Muslim attitudes that has had several GOP candidates stoking fears about the introduction of sharia law in this country. The Oklahoma legislature actually passed a law forbidding sharia law in their state. (I had hoped that Saudi Arabia would reply by forbidding any performance of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic.)
Catholics, perhaps more than most, understand that religion has a role to play in our nation’s public life. Groups like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good strive to employ Catholic social teaching in their approach to public issues. Certainly, all religious people, candidates and voters alike, turn to their faith to form their consciences, to shape their moral view of the world, to highlight certain values. But, both as Catholics and as Americans, we must be profoundly committed to the value of religious toleration. If a candidate’s stances are at odds with his or her faith, that is a legitimate line of questioning, to be sure. But, it is wrong, deeply wrong, to believe that a candidate should be sanctioned because of the church they attend.
Al Smith would have been a better president than Herbert Hoover. John F. Kennedy was a better president than Richard Nixon. (And, is it not a delicious irony that no questions were ever raised about Nixon being a Quaker!) You may believe that Mitt Romney would be a great president or you may believe that he would be a terrible president. But, the fact that he is a Mormon is not a reason to vote for or against him.
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