GOPsmacked: Cranmer on the Republican Presidential Candidate Race

Some interesting thoughts on the US Republican Party presidential candidate race from "His Grace" over at the Cranmer blog. To whit:

But it’s funny, His Grace thinks, with all the suffering, trauma and mess in the world, that the suitability of the next GOP candidate for the Presidency of the United States appears to come down to whether or not he or she has faith in Charles Darwin. There is a perception of cultic orthodoxy; a faith test quite contrary to the US Constitution which affirms that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust’ (Article VI). It must be observed that Republican candidates are invariably asked at some point during their campaigns if they believe the Bible to be the inviolable Word of God, and none has ever quoted Article VI in response. It appears that one only gains the GOP nomination to become President of the United States by the adoption of the Bible-Belt Creed and with the majority assent of the Evangelical Church. And there is an unrelenting media focus (both here and in the US) to lampoon, discredit and ridicule such beliefs.

The lampooning, discrediting and ridiculing goes on in Canada, too. In addition to the Darwin test, of course, there are also the global warming, abortion and sexuality ones.

Read the whole piece here.