This does not mean that voters should cast their ballot for the Gore-Lieberman ticket. It does mean that Senator Lieberman's religion should not be a barrier to their doing so. Of course, voters may cast their ballots based on policy positions that a candidate says flow from his or her religious convictions. Indeed, citizens are free in the voting booth to pull the lever for whatever reason. But we call on Americans to uphold our constitutional values in the months ahead and to ensure that religion is no barrier to those who seek to serve our country.
Religious prejudice has no place in American politics.
The Baptist Joint Committee's mission is to defend and extend God-given religious liberty for all, bringing a uniquely Baptist witness to the principle that religion must be freely exercised, neither advanced nor inhibited by government.