GOP candidate Ben Carson: Muslim shouldn’t be elected president
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says Islam is antithetical to the Constitution, and he doesn’t believe that a Muslim should be elected president. Carson, a devout Christian, says a president’s faith should matter to voters if it runs counter to the values and principles of America. Responding to a question during an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he described the Islamic faith as inconsistent with the Constitution. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” Carson said. “I absolutely would not agree with that.” He did not specify in what way Islam ran counter to constitutional principles. In a separate appearance on NBC, one of Carson’s rivals for the GOP nomination, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was asked whether he would have a problem with a Muslim in the White House. “The answer is, at the end of the day, you’ve got to go through the rigors, and people will look at everything. But, for me, the most important thing about being president is you have leadership skills, you know what you’re doing and you can help fix this country and raise this country. Those are the qualifications that matter to me.” Carson’s comments came amid lingering fallout over Republican Donald Trump‘s refusal last week to take issue with a man during a campaign event who wrongly called President Barack Obama a Muslim and said Muslims are “a problem in this country.” Also speaking on NBC on Sunday, Trump said that a Muslim in the White House is “something that could happen… Some people have said it already happened, frankly.” In multiple interviews Sunday, Trump tried to draw a distinction between all American Muslims and extremist Muslims in the U.S. and elsewhere. “I have friends that are Muslims they’re great people, amazing people,” Trump said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You have extremists Muslims that are in a class by themselves,” Trump added. “It’s a problem in this country it’s a problem throughout this world….You do have a problem with radical Muslims.” GOP candidates have since been split over whether to criticize Trump, who has been a vocal skeptic of Obama’s birthplace and faith. Obama is Christian. In the NBC interview, Carson said he believes that Obama was born in the U.S. and is Christian, saying he has “no reason to doubt” what the president says. Carson also made a distinction when it came to electing Muslims to Congress, calling it a “different story” from the presidency that “depends on who that Muslim is and what their policies are, just as it depends on what anybody else says.” Congress has one Muslim member, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. “If there’s somebody who’s of any faith, but they say things, and their life has been consistent with things that will elevate this nation and make it possible for everybody to succeed, and bring peace and harmony, then I’m with them,” Carson said. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers: The Anniston Star – Trump swings and misses As America has seen, anything goes in Donald Trump’s world. There is no civility or politeness. Think it, say it, move on. Insults are OK. Factual misrepresentations are allowed. It’s a show as much as a competition for political points. The New York City-bred billionaire and reality TV star wants the Republican presidential nomination, and his supporters have pushed him to the front of most of the GOP’s early polls. As such, his unpredictable campaign speeches, unlike those of his competitors, have become must-cover affairs for cable news. Now those supporters are also making headlines. On Thursday, Trump was hand-delivered a softball scenario in which a town hall attendee in Rochester, N.H., said this about President Obama: “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one.” Trump, listening, said, “Right.” The attendee continued. “You know (Obama’s) not even an American.” C’mon, Donald. That’s easy. Only the lunatic fringe continues to wallow in the long-disproven claim that the president is Muslim (which he isn’t) and not an American citizen (which he is). The birther crowd, an irritant during Obama’s 2008 election campaign, is now relegated to the waste bin of ludicrous assertions. Some believe the earth is flat. Or that man never walked on the moon. Or that the president’s U.S. birth certificate is a forgery. The Birmingham News – Evolution is just a theory, right? Earlier this week the national news media was aflutter about the Alabama State Board of Education apparently changing its stripes and striding into the 20th century by mandating in its new science standards that public school students should be taught the principles of biological evolution. Climate change is included in the newly approved standards as well. Board of Education members responded that teaching “the theory of evolution” had been in the state science standards since 1964. In other words, they actually strode into the 20th century only 64 years after it began. I hate to sound cynical about this, but you can generally tell someone’s attitude about evolution by how often they use the phrase “theory of evolution” rather than just the word “evolution” as scientists typically do. I think of it as one word – theoryofevolution – that word designed to make it sound like just another speculative idea such as whether the moon landing was faked or who really shot John Kennedy. There is even a disclaimer to that effect in biology textbooks used in Alabama public schools, which is why I feel compelled to point it out. It’s true that evolution is a scientific theory when “theory” is used as scientists use it – meaning a broad explanation of events or processes that is supported by a mountain of evidence. Thus, in the scientific world we have gravitation theory, for instance, and electromagnetic theory, the germ theory of disease, and so on. Evolution is every bit as scientifically well-established as gravity, electricity, and the knowledge that germs cause diseases. The real question is not what state science standards say but how seriously educators in the classroom actually take the teaching of evolution. The evidence I see is not reassuring, given that few of the students I teach arrive at UAB with any real knowledge about evolutionary processes. When I question them, I hear that evolution is certainly not emphasized, often not even mentioned, in high school biology classes in Alabama. The Decatur Daily – Around the state Selma Times-Journal on making the governor’s divorce records public: The divorce records of Gov. Robert Bentley and his wife, Dianne, should be open to the public. Such is precedent in this state, and there is no reason to do differently in this case. The governor’s personal life affects his ability to do his job and could undermine his integrity, credibility and moral authority to govern. Many were surprised to learn last month the governor’s wife of 50 years filed divorce citing “an irretrievable breakdown” of their marriage. The case was filed on a Friday and the next Monday a Tuscaloosa County judge issued an order sealing all records pertaining to the case. Judge Elizabeth Hamner, who was appointed by Gov. Bentley in 2011 and elected to a full term in 2012, issued the order. Dianne Bentley’s attorney L. Stephen Wright and the governor’s attorney Lisa Woods made the request jointly saying, “(The governor) holds a prominent office in the state of Alabama, and it would be in the parties’ best interest that the public not be able to access the record.” By granting the request, Judge Hamner makes the records only available to the Bentleys, their attorneys and court employees. All documents related to the case, including Dianne Bentley’s original filing, have been removed from the state’s online court records system. Sealing the records is decidedly not in the best interest of the general public. Gov. Bentley is the highest elected official in the state and has a much greater obligation of transparency than ordinary citizens. From the day he was elected and moved into the Governor’s Mansion with around-the-clock security detail, Bentley was no longer a private citizen and doesn’t enjoy the same right to privacy. In fact, the standard for keeping the records open in this case should be higher than in a typical divorce given his position, authority over state personnel and use of resources. We support the efforts of media outlets across the state working to have the governor’s divorce records unsealed. Dothan Eagle – Probate judges, perform your duties or step down What’s the difference between the infamous Rowan County, Kentucky, court clerk, Kim Davis, and a handful of Alabama probate judges who refuse to issue marriage licenses because they oppose same-sex marriage? Other than the glare of the international spotlight, there is no difference. The phalanx of media could just as easily be camped out in Geneva looking for Probate Judge Fred Hamic, or in Troy, hunting down
