Let me state upfront that Ben Carson has disqualified himself to be the next president of the United States with his statement about how a Muslim cannot be president, a statement that prompted Ta-Nahesi Coates to label him a “bigot” in a piece for The Atlantic this morning.
But I want to dig down into something Carson said in his defense of why a Muslim cannot be president. Carson said: “Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that’s inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.” I think Carson misses the irony in what he said here, because it’s applicable to a number of public officials in the United States if you replace “Muslim” with another word. Kim Davis, for instance, feels that religion is very much a part of her public life and what she does as a public official, but I don’t see Carson calling that out as being inconsistent with our Constitution. Does Carson give her a pass because she’s a Christian of some ilk?