The religion debate spread from pulpit to press to public. Some comments:

BOSTON HERALD:

Can the voters, in weighing Mr. Kennedy's qualifications, ignore his Catholicism? Can they ignore Mr. Nixon's Quaker persuasion? They obviously can't. A man is the sum of all the influences at work on him and in him. Religion is an important influence. But in the political context, it is not, and must not be allowed to become, all-important.

DETROIT NEWS :

We believe that Kennedy has answered all of the relevant questions satisfactorily and that they should no longer be asked.

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER:

Bigotry works two ways. It is bigotry to oppose a man for public office because of his religious faith. But it is also bigotry to accuse those who oppose him for valid political reasons of acting out of prejudice.

DETROIT FREE PRESS :

There are occasions when it seems as though [Kennedy] or his supporters welcome the chance to discuss religion. We think that from this time until the end of the campaign, Senator Kennedy would be wise in taking the position that he has said all that needs to be said about religion.

MURRAY KEMPTON, writing in the NEW YORK POST :

The religious issue has already cost Jack Kennedy all the votes it can; the widespread disgust it has aroused can only help him from now on. He would be a fool not to keep it going.

JAMES RESTON, writing in the NEW YORK TIMES :

It is, of course, true that many people in Texas sincerely oppose Kennedy for both economic and religious reasons. But it also happens to be true that it is easier, and cheaper, to defeat him here among the working class voters with religious rather than economic arguments.

ROSCOE DRUMMOND, writing in the NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE :

To try to make a voter's opposition to Kennedy proof of bigotry is itself a form of bigotry.

DORIS FLEESON :

It must appear incredible to General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer, good Catholics both, to hear from America that a Catholic cannot be trusted to lead a democratic nation.

GEORGE E. SOKOLSKY:

The campaign will proceed as expected. It is likely to be one of the dirtiest in history.

THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, nondenominational Protestant weekly:

A time of sudden deterioration of the international position of the United States is not a time to magnify out of all proportion an issue which could fatally divide America. It is Khrushchev, not the pope, who is coming to the United Nations.

WORLD OUTLOOK, a Methodist monthly magazine:

We do not know whether to vote against or for a man simply because he is a member of a group is bigotry or not. But it undoubtedly is bad politics and worse religion.

REGISTER, national Catholic weekly:

The Republican candidate should denounce the support of the political parsons with as much vigor and decision as that with which Abraham Lincoln disowned Know-Nothing support in 1854.

RABBI MAURICE N. EISENDRATH, President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations:

Both religion and democracy are downgraded when religion is used as a weapon of partisan political warfare.

THE TABLET, weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn:

For years Dr. Peale, from the pulpit, in his syndicated column and in his books had championed a saccharine philosophy, far removed from bigotry. It was a distinct shock not only to Catholics but to many non-Catholics to see him lined up with, and offering leadership to, the forces of prejudice, the agents of hate.

CRUSADER, American Baptist Convention monthly:

A Kennedy administration would probably bend over backward to avoid the appearance of evil lest subsequent Catholic candidacies be forever compromised.

THE CATHOLIC NEWS, weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York:

All this discussion of religion . . . is doing the Catholic Church more good than harm by showing the ridiculousness of the arguments against the Church and by making Catholic champions of many Catholics who have been lukewarm.

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