The panel on Fox and Friends this morning ( FOX News) consisted of Dave Briggs, Ainsely Earhardt, and Clayton Morris. The conversation turned to discussing Rick Perry’s fundraising capabilities when Earhardt dropped a shocker…

@1:12:
Earhardt: “Well, the Christian coalition, I think, he [Perry] could get a lot of money from that…

Briggs interrupts: “Big time!”

Earhardt continues: “because Romney obviously not being a Christian… Rick Perry, he…”

Briggs interrupts: “Oh, yeah!”

Earhardt continues: “he’s [Perry] always on talk shows, on Christian talk shows. He has days of prayer in Texas…”

Briggs: “Next month in Houston…”

Are Ainsely Earhardt and Dave Briggs ignorant regarding Article VI of the United States Constitution? Do they think they know better than those early American patriots – our Founding Fathers – who dedicated their lives and fortunes and sacred honor to free themselves from a religiously oppressive government?

“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

From U.S. Constitution online:

Some of the first colonists of the nation for which the Constitution was written had been seeking to escape religious persecution. The constitutions of several of the states prohibited public support of religion (though some did explicitly support or demand adherence to Christianity). Above all, the many varying sects of Christianity in America required that to be fair to all, there could be preference to none. It would have been disgraceful for anyone to wish to leave the United States because of religious persecution. So the authors decided it best to keep the government out of religion. This is not to say that the United States was not or is not a religious nation. Religion plays a big role in the everyday life of Americans, then and now. But what the authors were striving for is tolerance… something I fear contemporary Americans are lacking.

(emphasis added)

Earhardt’s comment was bigoted (yes, bigoted) and outrageous. The enthusiastic chiming in of Dave Briggs was equally repulsive. The very idea that the United States of America could return to rule by ‘religious clique’ is reprehensible and un-American. Romney’s faith is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They believe in Jesus.

Romney supporters know this election must be about the very serious issues that face our nation. Let FOX News hear from you (often!). Send emails to: Friends@foxnews.com and yourcomments@foxnews.com. You may phone FOX at 1-888-369-4762. Leave comments on Earhardt’s Facebook page here.

Resource reading:

Article VI Blog
Evangelicals for Mitt

● UPDATE: Additional articles
From Hal Boyd -Deseret News

Attempts to contact Fox News regarding Earhardt’s remarks have not yet been returned.

● July 18, 2011 The Christian Post
Fox News Host: Mitt Romney Not a Christian

“Let’s face it; Romney simply doesn’t have a consistent worldview and much of what he does believe is contrary to the conservative and Christian worldview,” states an open letter being circulated on July 14, according to Michigan Messenger. Some prominent religious right leaders, including Gary Glenn of the American Family Association’s Michigan chapter, have signed the letter.

“That (Romney’s faith) might be fine for someone running for city council, but he’s running for the presidency of the most powerful nation in the world. To accept his multiple conversions as authentic and then give him the keys to the White House would be foolish. At this critical time in American history, we need a leader more than ever who has spent a lifetime defending and promoting conservative principles. The last thing we need is someone whose ideology abruptly shifted only after he and his consultants decided to prepare him for his first Presidential campaign,” it adds.

In a recent interview with The Christian Post, pastor and author Mark Driscoll said Christian leaders needed to be careful about publicly supporting candidates lest they “turn out to be not that moral.” Driscoll said he could understand the struggle Christians would have considering Romney for president. “He supports our values; he doesn’t worship our God

The American Family Association (AFA) has teamed up with Rick Perry to sponsor his upcoming prayer rally in Texas.

● July 18, 2011 The Washington Post
Mormon Mitt Romney not ‘Christian,’ says Fox News host

The question of whether or not Mormons are considered ‘Christians’ is sensitive and controversial. It is also consequential for Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Hunstman[...]

(Read further for details on the ‘Christian’ tack the Pawlenty campaign has taken.)

● July 18, 2011 The Washington Post
Romney’s religion a barrier to Republican nod, Cain says

Mr. Cain on Monday became the first of Mr. Romney’s nine declared and potential nomination rivals to say publicly and explicitly something long whispered: namely, that the former Massachusetts governor’s Mormonism is an obstacle too big to overcome in the most solidly Republican region in the country. The South has a high concentration of evangelical Protestants, many of whom doubt the legitimacy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

► Jayde Wyatt