In case you missed it. Al Sharpton threw some more verbal spears (his forte really) -- this time at the Mormons and Mitt Romney.

Now that the initial shock of Al's jab has worn off -- I have to revisit his quote again and try to decipher the logic therein.

There is none.

Here's the offending sentence: "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don’t worry, that’s a temporary situation.”

It's almost a throw away insult from Sharpton which makes the insult even worse. With 25 words Sharpton insinuates a boat load of raw bigoted crap:

1) Romney is a Mormon and therefore not a serious candidate. In Al's mind, Romney's denomination is as much a disqualifying characteristic as it is a defining one. The "one Mormon running for office" - he can only bring himself to refer to Romney by his abhorrent faith and not by name. In Al's world, Romney's faith makes him irrelevant. It also layers his bigoted cake with a twinge of removal and flippancy, something Al is adept at using when confronted with, say, Tawana Brawley.

2) Romney is a Mormon and thus disqualified. In Al's mind, no right-thinking Christian could ever vote for the "one Mormon". According to Al, Romney is as much a throw away as his one-liner. No need to worry of course: "those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway." Who is he referring to here? Will McCain and Rudy be hailed as the Mormon-eating Christian warriors for Al? Will Obama defeat Romney next November with Sharpton whistling "Onward Christian Soldiers" as they unlatch the door on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Why did he need to make this statement in the first place? Is there "worry" out there about the "one Mormon" might actually win this election?

3) Mormons have no place in the American politics. What!? A Jew is on the ship? No worries, those right thinking Christians will toss him overboard. That's offensive... but it's essentially what he said. How about we lower the race a bit... say School Superinendent of Fairfax County, Virginia. Let's do a bit of editing and roll tape... "As for the one Mormon running for [School Superintendent], those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don’t worry, that’s a temporary situation.” Yikes! That sounds almost as bad as our semitic replacement. Use anything... how about Student Body President, PTA Board member, paper boy... where does it stop? Or... is it only for important jobs.

4) Real believers in God will rise up and defeat all non-believers in God. The subsequent deed following the cry of "Allah Ho Akbar!" is thankfully absent from Al's quick diatribe... but the sentiment is striking similar. Al - Let's leave the religious political poisonous infighting to the Shiia and Sunii. There's no place for it here. You see Mormons don't really believe in God. Al may question (indeed many of my readers may question) the God I believe in but don't tell me I don't believe in God. And don't tell me that someone who doesn't even believe in God can't participate in American politics. And what does "temporary situation" really mean? I can picture Marlon Brando, cotton balls in mouth, reciting that quick diddy... but I expect more from a supposed religious leader.

Perhaps I'm missing the context. Here's the quote again in the context of the NY Times writer:

Noting that Dr. King had established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he said, “There’s no question that he himself saw that the basis of the movement was God-based.” He added, “To try and secularize the civil-rights movement is just totally inaccurate. It was a church-based, faith-based movement; there’s just no question about that. … Let’s not reinvent Dr. King any more than we try to reduce God to some denomination or convention.”

But Mr. Sharpton, in a jab at Mitt Romney (and the Mormon religion, which Mr. Hitchens had criticized because it once endorsed racial segregation), added, “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don’t worry, that’s a temporary situation.”

Well, that didn't help his case any. So Sharpton declares that Dr. King's movement was a faith-based movement, a God-based movement. But apparently, Al's interpretation of the movement has no room for Mormons even though Mormons made room for him 30 years ago.

This exclusionary faith-based mantra would come as a surprise to my 9th Great Grandfather, Jean Pierre Bondurant, a devout Huguenot, who fled to America from France in 1700 to avoid persecution and help found the area of Manakin, Virginia.

This is upsetting on so many levels. I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Al Sharpton has a history of this type of divisive nonsense.

One last word... watch out Harry Reid, Al is coming after you with his legions of true God-fearing challengers. They will defeat you... and all of us if we don't call Al on his bigoted comment.

Labels: al sharpton, Mormon, mormonism