January 8, 2012

(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League called on Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum to avoid religious appeals to voters. 

Santorum on Jan. 5 told listeners of a Boston radio show that “We always need a Jesus guy” in the campaign, in response to a caller who had commented that the economy was the main issue of the campaign. “We don’t need a Jesus candidate; we need an economic candidate,” the caller said.

“We need someone who believes in something more than themselves and not just the economy,” Santorum continued. “When we say, “God bless America,” do we mean it or do we just say it?”

“Senator Santorum’s remark comparing himself to a ‘Jesus candidate’ was inappropriate and exclusionary. It essentially says that those of other faiths or of no faith – whether Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, non-believers or others – do not belong,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL national director in a statement. “Religious appeals to voters are simply unacceptable and un-American. Voters should be encouraged to make their decisions based upon their assessment of the qualifications, integrity and political positions of candidates, not the intensity of their religious beliefs.”

The statement continued: “The League has long maintained that candidates should feel comfortable explaining their religious convictions to voters, but that there is a point at which an emphasis on religion in a political campaign becomes inappropriate and even unsettling.”
 

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