Joe Lieberman says Mitt Romney, Mormons deserve religious tolerance: 'The American way'

"This evangelical pastor did not suggest that he disagreed with Romney's views on life and marriage or any other religious issue with political implications," Reynolds wrote. "Instead, he attacked Mormonism for not being evangelical, Romney for not being born again, and Mormonism as a cult.

"This is bigotry buttressed by irrelevance fortified with invincible ignorance."

Reynolds said the relevant criteria for becoming president does not include being an evangelical, nor does being born again make a president effective.

Rick Perry, the presidential candidate for whom Rev. Jeffress was speaking at the time of his comments, "may be born again," Reynolds continued, "but his incompetent tolerance of a bigot to introduce him suggests bad things about his competence in the here and now."

Speaking of his experience with Latter-day Saints, Reynolds pointed out that "Mormons saw their first prophet murdered by an American mob, but still they loyally serve a Republic whose laws have often failed them. They created a paradise in a wilderness and great literature and a first-rate university against all odds."

Reynolds concluded evangelicals admire those achievements and said they must continue to "vote the platform and the person and not the pulpit."

Also writing in the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog, David French, a religious liberties attorney and the co-founder of Evangelicals for Mitt, makes the case that evangelical Christians can in good conscience vote for a Mormon "so long as they put aside Robert Jeffress' bad theology and resist the urge towards religious tribalism."

"Article 6 of the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office," French says. "This Article may only bind the government, but it also establishes a worthy principle for its citizens. When deciding how to cast your vote, judge the man — not his church."

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