• MONDAY EVENING, MAY 7 (at the New York Public Library)
o Rev. Al Sharpton appeared in a debate with atheist and author of “God is Not Great,” Christopher Hitchens. They debated the value of God and of religion. Hitchens took the position that, as the subtitle of his book says, “…religion poisons everything.” Sharpton took the other side.
o After Hitchens opened with his critique of religion, including a comment about Dr. Martin Luther King, the moderator turned to Sharpton and asked “in your rebuttal, would you take a moment to correct Christopher on his misconception that religion was somehow incidental to the civil rights movement?’
o After addressing a few other points that Hitchens raised, Sharpton said: “In terms of the civil rights movement, it was absolutely fueled by a believe in God and belief in right or wrong. And, had not there been this belief that there was a right and a wrong, the civil rights movement that you alluded to or that you referred to, would not have existed because what made it made it wrong for people to be slaves? What made it wrong for humans to be treated unequally because there was nobody to say that they are all equal? It was whoever had the strength.”
o In response to Sharpton’s comments about the civil right movement, Hitchen says: “The belief that it is illegal and as well as evil to keep black Americans in subjection does not require any supernatural endorsement. It had been proved repeatedly that in law, and in morality and in ethics and demonstrated in practice. The only thing that had always been consistently justified by the Churches was initially slavery, the right to hold someone as a slave, biblically warranted, and the right to keep the races separate which is endorsed by a church that’s, just to give a contemporary example, one of the current candidates for Republican nomination is a member of a church, the so-called Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints, that until 1965 had it as an article of faith that the Bible separates the Sons of Ham and makes them lesser. I don’t have to disparage a text like that because I don’t think it has any authority. So, in a sense, I return the question to you.”
o Later on Sharpton responded with the comment that got into the news: “As for the one Mormon running for office, those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don’t worry about that, that’s a temporary, that’s a temporary situation.”
o [All these comments happen within the first 30 minutes or so of the recording of the debate.]
• TUESDAY, MAY 8th
o The next morning conservative radio talk show hosts Hugh Hewitt and Rush Limbaugh picked up on the Sharpton’s comment from a New York Times blog entry that covered the debate.
o Romney campaign issued the following statement: “It is terribly disheartening and disappointing to hear Reverend Sharpton offer such appalling comments about a fellow American’s faith. America is a nation of diverse faiths and common values, and bigotry toward anyone because of their religious beliefs is unacceptable.” (Source: Exclusive: Romney Campaign Responds to Sharpton Attack on Mormons)
o Romney, himself said:
 “I don’t know Reverend Sharpton,” he said. “I doubt he is personally such a thing, but the comment was a comment which could be described as a bigoted comment.” Romney added that he was willing to believe Sharpton didn’t mean to be offensive. “Perhaps he didn’t mean it that way, but the way it came out was inappropriate and wrong,” said Romney. (Source: Fox News/AP)
 “His comment was a bigoted comment. It shows that bigotry still exists in some corners. And I thought it was a most unfortunate comment to make.” (Source: CNN transcript)
 “Overwhelmingly, the people I talk to believe that we elect a person to lead the nation not based on what church they go to, but based on their values and their vision,” he said. “I receive very little comment of the nature coming from Reverend Sharpton.” The issue of Romney’s religion is often compared to the scrutiny given to former President John Kennedy, whose Catholic faith was an issue in the 1960 campaign. Kennedy dealt with the matter by giving a high-profile speech in which he said his religion would not shape his policy choices. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, hasn’t addressed such questions so directly, but he has been clear that his religion wouldn’t dictate his policies. “I make it very clear that the doctrines of any one church are not the basis for electing any individual in this country _ never have been and I doubt they ever will be,” Romney said. (Source: Fox News/AP)
o In a statement, Sharpton accused the Romney campaign of a “blatant effort to fabricate a controversy to help their lagging campaign…” “In no way did I attack Mormons or the Mormon Church when I responded that other believers, not atheists, would vote against Mr. Romney for purely political reasons,” Sharpton said. In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sharpton denied questioning Romney’s belief in God and suggested the Romney camp was trying to stir up a controversy because of their political differences.” “What I said was that we would defeat him, meaning as a Republican.” “A Mormon, by definition, believes in God. They don’t believe in God the way I do, but by definition, they believe in God.” (Source: Fox News/AP)
o Sharpton said: “In response to him, I predicted that believers (not atheists) would vote against the candidate, in this case, Mr. Romney, for political, not religious reasons,” he said in a statement released by his office. “In no way did I attack Mormons or the Mormon Church, when I responded that other believers, not atheists, would vote against Mr. Romney for purely political reasons.” (Source: Romney and Sharpton on Mormons - NYT)
o In a later interview Sharpton told the AP: “What I said was that we would defeat him, meaning as a Republican,” Sharpton said. “A Mormon, by definition, believes in God. They don’t believe in God the way I do, but by definition, they believe in God.” He said he was contrasting himself and other believers with Hitchens, who is the author of a new book, “God Is Not Great.” (Source: Sharpton denies disputing Romney’s faith - USA Today)
o That evening, according to an interview with New York Sun, Sharpton “called his critics ‘politically exploitative,’ saying they ‘fabricated a nonexistent issue.’ He said he was rebuffing Mr. Hitchens’s own attack on religion, not criticizing it — or Mr. Romney.” (Source: Exclusive: Romney Campaign Responds to Sharpton Attack on Mormons)
o Tuesday(?) evening during an appearance on Fox News program Hannity and Colmes, Romney said: “I think there are differences between different faiths in this country. And there will be battles between different religions. … That’s a great thing about this country. We don’t decide who’s going to be in office based on what church they go to.” (Source: Exclusive: Romney Campaign Responds to Sharpton Attack on Mormons)
• WEDNESDAY, MAY 9th
o On Wednesday evening Sharpton was interviewed by CNN’s Paula Zahn. See video clip and CNN transcript.
 Zahn asked if Sharpton was saying that Mormons were not real Christians. Sharpton replied: “No. What I was responding to — and it’s interesting he did not attack Mr. Hitchens, who said this — that he, Mr. Hitchens, had said that the Mormons had, in fact, had in their articles of faith that blacks were not to be part of an inclusiveness of God. And I said, don’t worry about that anyway, if that’s the case, that real believers, not atheists — because the argument was over atheists. The argument was not about Mormon — real believers, not atheists, was going to vote against him anyway, because I don’t think Romney will win.”
 Zahn asked if Sharpton consider the Mormon was racist once blacks were finally considered as equals within the church? Sharpton responed: “I think that that is by self-definition. If, prior to ‘65, ‘78, whenever it was, they did not see blacks as equal, I don’t believe that as real worshipers of God, because I don’t believe God distinguishes between people. That’s not bigotry. That is responding to their bigotry.” Along the same lines, later in the interview Sharpton said: “So — and what I said was — I didn’t even say really believers. I said really believe in God, because I don’t believe you can really believe in God if you think God created some inferior to others. I believe that. And, as a minister, I have a right to advocate that. That is not bigotry. That is really saying, I don’t believe God is a bigot.”
 Zahn asked: “You are valuing Mormons’ belief in God the way you were a Pentecostal, or the way you would a Methodist, or the way you would a Methodist Presbyterian?” Sharpton responded: “If someone said that, when I was running for president, that the religious group I was a part of was racist against another group, and somebody else said, well, if somebody — others that really believe in God — because I don’t accept that as a belief in God — I would have to defend why I was a member of that group. Did I denounce that? Did I change? When did I change? I certainly couldn’t turn around and call them a bigot for being a victim of what my denomination once perpetrated. I think the same way front page of “The New York Times” and others went at Obama and asked him questions about his past, who never said anything like that, now have a responsibility to say, well, Governor Romney, were you a Mormon then when this was taught by the church? When did you denounce it? When did you change? I think that we have got to play the game by one set of rules. But calling me a bigot to raise questions about bigotry, I think that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious and had been played out through this campaign.”
• THURSDAY, MAY 10th
o On Thursday evening, Sharpton appeared on Glenn Beck’s TV show. Beck is a practicing Mormon. See transcript for details.
 Beck started off with: “Reverend, are Mormons Christians?” Sharpton said, “I believe they are.” Beck asked: “Are Mormons bigots?” Sharpton replied: “I do not call Mormons bigots, no. I think that there was a doctrine that was, to my understanding, part of the Mormon Church until the `60s that was a doctrine that excluded people based on race. I understand that that was a transition made on that around `65 to `78 — I`m not certain.”
 Beck and Sharpton covered some of the same material covered earlier in the Zahn program (e.g., regarding Hitchens’ comments).
 And then Sharpton offered an apology: “What I have said today is that if I, inadvertently, or my words inadvertently hurt any Mormon, I apologize to a Mormon only because that is not my intent, nor my belief. If it was, I think you know me well enough to say that is my belief: “I do not think that they`re believers.” That`s not my belief, so I`m not going to say that. But I think Mr. Romney, who himself has had to apologize for using expressions like “tar baby” in Massachusetts, cannot politicize this and not answer the questions that Barack Obama and others have to ask. I think we must separate…”
 At the end of the interview Beck and Sharpton got into rapid fire responses around a comparison of what Sharpton said compared to what Imus said. Beck began to compare the two situation and Sharpton responded: “I`m not going to let you do that. Because to equate me responding to an atheist with someone who got up with no interaction at all and denigrated people — I did not call anybody a name. I did not denigrate anybody. I did not in any way cause (INAUDIBLE) — he called these women “nappy-headed hos.” What did I call Mormons? That is unfair, Glenn.” The interview ended with…
 SHARPTON: That was a blatant racist statement [Imus] made. What I said is I want to know what you were part of and what was the church doctrine at that time? That is not a bigoted statement. In fact, that is a question.
 BECK: I don`t remember anyone ever saying or even thinking that I would even ask or anyone should ask if any of those girls had lifestyles that were less than stellar. No one would even say that.
 SHARPTON: If they did, would that make them “nappy-headed hos”?
 BECK: No. But if…
 SHARPTON: If you have a policy that would limit what others can do, it is not within the rights of people to ask what that policy was and what their involvement was?