As reported by Jan Moller in today’s Times-Picayune, Louisiana Protestants don’t support a television commercial made by the Louisiana Democratic Party. The commercial accuses Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bobby Jindal of bigotry against non-Catholic Christians.
The advertisement claims that in an article he wrote in 1996, Jindal “insulted thousands of Louisiana Protestants. He has referred to Protestant religions as scandalous, depraved, selfish and heretical.” However, as we noted in a recent news release, Jindal’s words were taken out of context. Indeed, much of what the Democrats attribute to him are actually the words of John Calvin.
Despite any intentions held for the commercial, Louisiana Protestants aren’t susceptible to the smear job against Jindal. When asked by the Times-Picayune to name Protestant leaders who would agree that the 1996 article was offensive, a Democratic Party spokeswoman failed to produce a single one.
Indeed, the Rev. David E. Crosby, senior pastor of New Orleans’ First Baptist Church, told the paper that “Anybody who reads [Jindal’s] whole article and ends up angry just needs to grow up.”
Further, the Interfaith Alliance, described by the Times-Picayune as “a Washington D.C., grass-roots group that was formed as a liberal counterweight to more conservative Christian groups,” also condemned the ad. The organization’s president, Baptist pastor Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, wrote to the state party’s chairman and requested the ad be pulled.
Despite all this, party leaders are standing behind their smear-job. As of this writing, it is still featured prominently on the homepage of Louisiana’s Democratic Party.
