Hitchens on Huckabee
Published by marco on
“However, what Article VI[1] does not do, and was never intended to do, is deny me the right to say, as loudly as I may choose, that I will on no account vote for a smirking hick like Mike Huckabee, who is an unusually stupid primate but who does not have the elementary intelligence to recognize the fact that this is what he is. My right to say and believe that is already guaranteed to me by the First Amendment. And the right of Huckabee to win the election and fill the White House with morons like himself is unaffected by my expression of an opinion.”
It's perfectly reasonable to reject a candidate because of his religious views. by Christopher Hitchens (Slate)
[1]
Article VI of the US Constitution says the following:
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Many are—deliberately or naively—misinterpreting this to mean that voters are not allowed to reject a candidate based on his or her religious beliefs. This is patently false; the article forbids a legal requirement for religion and voters may use whichever criteria they like, as one would expect of a free country.
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