Religion Stupid Party

Jindal: Muslims Must Uphold the Constitution by Converting

Written by SK Ashby

Republican presidential frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson blew the Muslim president dogwhistle over the weekend but the rest of the large Republican field didn't necessarily rush to condemn them.

Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham came out against this latest outburst of Birtherism (Bircherism?), but Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had a slightly different take.

Jindal has issued an official statement saying he'd consider voting for a Muslim president if they stop being Muslim.

“If you can find me a Muslim candidate who is a Republican, who will fight hard to protect religious liberty, who will respect the Judeo-Christian heritage of America, who will be committed to destroying ISIS and radical Islam, who will condemn cultures that treat women as second class citizens and who will place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution, then yes, I will be happy to consider voting for him or her."

To be clear, the Article IV of the Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." It's not clear how we will "uphold the Constitution" while applying an unconstitutional religious test.

On Friday evening the political press was ready to declare Donald Trump's campaign dead after he essentially nodded along as a member of the audience called President Obama a Muslim, but Ben Carson went much further by saying a Muslim should never become president.

Republicans have thoroughly established their contempt for the Constitution. Approximately half of their presidential candidates believe we should ignore or defy the Constitution to varying degrees.

Large majorities of Republican primary voters agree with virtually everything Trump, Carson, and Jindal have said. Trump's supporters in particular overwhelmingly believe President Obama is a secret Muslim.