Candidates Descend on SC amid Religious Liberty Fears
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Presidential candidates in both parties are spending much of their time in Iowa and New Hampshire at this stage of the race. But South Carolina is flooded with candidates, too, and for good reason:
It's the first primary in the South, it has 50 delegates to award, and as a part of the Bible Belt, it's particularly good ground for conservative Christian candidates.
This weekend saw Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, descend on the Palmetto State.
Carson was attending a town hall with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who wanted to make a point about racial progress in the South by having it at Bob Jones University, which had a history of racial discrimination.
"Bob Jones University, like all of us, we've all had to evolve. And I'm so proud of the progress that's happened here at BJU and frankly what's happened all across South Carolina," Scott said.
One reporter asked Carson if he was worried he'll lose black votes because he was speaking at Bob Jones.
"I'm not a politician. I don't go around with my finger in the air saying, 'Let's see, can I do that? And will that hurt me with this group? And will this hurt me with that group?' That's what politicians do. I'm not a politician," he said.
Charlotte, North Carolina, resident Betty Gregory said she felt pride rise within her at the town hall.
"There was Dr. Carson, who came from the hood, and there he is running for president of the United States," she said.
The next day at the university, the topic was religious liberty as Sen. Cruz and others rallied against religious persecution.
"Many folks in the media belittle the threat to religious liberty, suggests it's not real, it doesn't exist," he told those gathered. "The purpose of this conference is to put a face, to put a human face, a human story on these threats so people understand they are real and they are growing."
A number of people attacked for their Christian faith gathered on the stage, including high school football coach Joe Kennedy. The coach has been suspended for praying on the 50-yard line after games.
According to Kennedy, school administrators told him, "'It's your right as an American to pray. But we don't want anybody to see you doing it. We want you to go and hide,' like I should be ashamed of what my beliefs are and who I am as an American."
Also present were the Odgaards of Des Moines, who lost their business for refusing gay weddings and have faced a flood of hateful accusations since.
"Overnight we became the most hateful, bigoted, racist and words I can't even use. It was devastating and it was hard to live through," Betty Odgaard said.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, called these attacks the new McCarthyism, which asks, "'Have you ever held the position that marriage should be the union of a man and a woman?'"
"If so," Perkins continued, "you are driven from your job, you are alienated, you're marginalized, and you're treated as if you're some kind of throwback."
One reporter asked Sen. Cruz if it's just Christianity under threat in America.
"The Obama administration has demonstrated a particular antipathy for Christians," the Texas lawmaker replied. "Christians are under assault from this administration."
"President Obama is fond of using the phrase 'freedom to worship.' That, by the way, is not what the First Amendment says," Cruz noted.
"What he means by that, when President Obama says 'freedom to worship' is that you can go between 11 a.m.- 12 noon on Sunday in your church service and say whatever you want. But at 12:01, when you walk out those doors, you have no right to live according to your faith."
