I will give opponents of Bradley Byrne – in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination – this little bit of credit: at least they understand enough about the impropriety of the tactic to refrain from openly accusing him of wrongly interpreting the Bible. And yet this article from the Huntsville Times (via AU) makes clear the whispers have grown loud enough that Byrne had to respond at a recent campaign stop.
"I believe the Bible is true," Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne said here Wednesday. "Every word of it."
Byrne's testimony came as he tried to clarify an earlier statement seized on by his opponents for the GOP nomination.
Byrne had been quoted in the Mobile Press-Register in November as saying, "I believe there are parts of the Bible that are meant to be literally true and parts that are not."
That quote has followed him, including to his appearance at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in New Hope, where Byrne came to announce his first big endorsement this year, from the Alabama Retail Association.
Come on. Can't a man go to the Piggly Wiggly to talk about business policy and celebrate an endorsement without having to defend his religious beliefs? Public officials should be chosen for their public policy ideas and credentials, not their theological perspectives.
