Alabama Gov: If You Aren't Saved, You Ain't My Brother

Robert Bentley causes controversy an hour into governorship
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2011 6:21 AM CST
Alabama Gov: If You Aren't Saved, You Ain't My Brother
Azalea Trail Maids of Mobile, Ala., stroll past the Alabama Capitol during inaugural ceremonies in Montgomery, Ala..   (AP Photo/Kevin Glackmeyer)

Alabama's newly sworn in Republican governor doesn't care if you're black or white, but if you haven't been saved, you're not his brother. "If we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother," Robert Bentley told a crowd at a Baptist church soon after taking the oath of office, the Huffington Post reports.

"I was elected as a Republican candidate. But once I became governor ... I became the governor of all the people. I intend to live up to that. I am color-blind," said Bentley, a longtime church deacon. Asked to clarify Bentley's comments about brothers and sisters, the governor's communications director said: "He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike." Jewish, Muslim, and atheist groups in the state want to meet with the governor to discuss his comments, the Los Angeles Times notes.
(More Robert Bentley stories.)

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