Goldwater Raps ‘Political Preachers’

WASHING TON – Declaring that “religion has no place in public policy,” Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., today warned “political preachers” he will “fight them every step of the way.” The 1964 Republican presidential nominee, considered by many to be one of the fathers of modern conservativism, said in a speech prepared for delivery to the Senate that single issue religious groups, such as the Moral Majority, pose “a very serious threat to our liberty.” He said he was upset with the opposition to Arizona Judge Sandra O’Connor as Supreme Court justice based on her stand on abortion. “Of course, the saddest part of the whole dispute was that Judge O’Con- nor was attacked by these religious factions for a position she doesn’t hold. She opposes abortion and said so.”

Goldwater said no single issue should ever decide the fitness of a Supreme Court justice. In a reference to Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell, Goldwater said, without mentioning his name: “I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want t.o I be a moral person, I must believe in ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C’ and ‘D.’ Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? “And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. “I am warning them today: I will fight them every