Presidential candidate Ben Carson was plunged into a controversy this week over comments he made in a television interview.   If all you saw were the media reports, you heard “Carson says a Muslim shouldn’t be President.”  Not surprisingly, that’s not what Carson said.  He was asked whether a President’s faith should matter.  He answered, “It depends what that faith is.  If it is consistent with America and the Constitution, no problem.”  Asked if Islam was consistent with the Constitution, he answered, “No.  I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.  I absolutely would not agree with that.”  All Hell promptly broke loose.  Carson was called a bigot.  The Council on American Islamic Relations (more about that group later), called for Carson to drop out as a presidential candidate.  Mindless liberals of all stripes, and their media lapdogs were offended.  Hillary Clinton was “appalled.”  But Carson was right.  Here’s why.

The detractors quoted Article 6 of the Constitution, part of which says, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.”  However, much as was the case in the birthright citizenship controversy, they left out half of the sentence; the most important half.  What Article 6 actually says is:  “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned (in Article 1), and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution: but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.”  What that all means is, as long as an official swears or affirms that he or she will support the Constitution, his or her faith is not a bar to service.  Isn’t that what Ben Carson said?  A President must solemnly swear (or affirm) “I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  That means that, if a would-be President’s faith prevents him from preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution, he can’t lead America.  Isn’t that what Ben Carson said?

Now let’s get to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).  CAIR is the group that is stirring this pot.  A CAIR official called Carson’s remarks “the most anti-American statement I ever heard.” What a joke.  Outwardly, CAIR exists as an Islamic anti-discrimination group.  In reality, CAIR is a creation of the Muslim Brotherhood.  That group was created in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, who declared,  “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations, and to extend its power to the entire planet.”  The Brotherhood supported Hitler during World War II.  Great guys, but that was a long time ago; maybe they’ve mellowed.  I’m afraid not.

CAIR is a front-group for the HAMAS terrorist organization, and has ties to the Holy Land Foundation, which was shut down by the government after 911, and whose founder went to prison.  CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in that case.  CAIR’s founder, Nihad Awad, the same guy who called Ben Carson anti-American, has said this, “Islam is not in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant.  Islam should become the only accepted religion on Earth.”  Such a belief is inconsistent with America and its Constitution.  If you don’t believe me, read the First Amendment.  Any presidential candidate who ascribes to such beliefs cannot swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and therefore, cannot be President.  To repeat, Ben Carson was right.

To sum up, CAIR is a corrupt organization dedicated to the destruction of the United States as a democratic society which protects the free exercise of religion.  That’s always been its goal.  What’s worse, however, is that the American Left welcomes any ally who criticizes a Conservative, even those, like CAIR, that would use our own Constitution to destroy the very freedoms it was enacted to protect.  We’d better wake up.