The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum to refrain from overt expressions of religious preferences and beliefs on the campaign trail, stating that "religious appeals to voters are simply unacceptable and un-American."
The call was made in response to Santorum’s comments on a radio show that "we always need a Jesus candidate."
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania Senator and the second-place winner of the Iowa Republican caucus, said Thursday in response to a question from a caller on a radio show that he disagreed the economy was the essential issue of the campaign.
The caller commented, "We don't need a Jesus candidate; we need an economic candidate," to which Santorum replied: "My answer to that was, we always need a Jesus candidate. We need someone who believes in something more than themselves and not just the economy. … When we say, "God bless America," do we mean it or do we just say it?"
"Senator Santorum's remark comparing himself to a 'Jesus candidate' was inappropriate and exclusionary. It essentially says that those of other faiths or of no faith – whether Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, non-believers or others – do not belong," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL’s National Director.
"Religious appeals to voters are simply unacceptable and un-American. Voters should be encouraged to make their decisions based upon their assessment of the qualifications, integrity and political positions of candidates, not the intensity of their religious beliefs,” he added.
He said ADL has long maintained that candidates should feel comfortable explaining their religious convictions to voters, “but that there is a point at which an emphasis on religion in a political campaign becomes inappropriate and even unsettling.”
Opinion polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney holds a wide lead in New Hampshire, which holds its first in the nation primary election on Tuesday, and also leads in South Carolina, the next state in the nominating process.