When an evangelical or the Family Research Council call Mormonism a cult, isn’t the pot calling the kettle black?

A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a major conference of Christian conservatives here on Friday as “a genuine follower of Jesus Christ” and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney’s religion, calling the Mormon Church a cult and stating that Mr. Romney “is not a Christian.”

This is political raw meat in contemporary America. All eyes turn to Rick Perry. The question arises whether he wanted this kind of introduction from the pastor. Kind of looks as though he did.

The Perry campaign sought to put some distance between Mr. Perry and Mr. Jeffress, stating that the governor “does not believe Mormonism is a cult” and that Mr. Jeffress was chosen to speak by the organizers of the event, the Values Voter Summit, which was put on by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association and other evangelical Christian groups.

But in a statement, the Family Research Council president, Tony Perkins, said the Perry campaign had approved using Mr. Jeffress to introduce the governor. “Pastor Jeffress was suggested to us as a possible introductory speaker because he serves as pastor of one of the largest churches in Texas,” Mr. Perkins said. “We sent the request to the Perry campaign which then signed off on the request.” NYT

The cultists — whether they call themselves “genuine followers of Jesus Christ” or “Mormons” — are distinguished by the extent to which the rest of us wish they’d shut up and go away. Jeffress, Perry, Romney, Tony Perkins and people who call themselves “values voters” have shown, over and over again, that they’re the naked emperors of American Christianity. They are in this business for themselves, not for their country.

Cross posted from the blog Prairie Weather.