" If you have not accpted Jesus as the Savior, you are not my brother ."

Having different religions is normal in a country. Christians and non-Christians are different in some ways. The each person worship their own belief. Every religion believes that their beliefs are true. That is why and how people differ from each other spiritually. It is fine for me what did the governor say in a Christian Church. Everyone might be doing it. I think.

Kinda sexist too, I mean I wouldn't be his "brother" in any case. He's an idiot, and if he actually tried to pass some laws that discriminated against non-Christians, I would hope that people would fight him all the way to the Supreme Court (also vote him OUT).

This reminds me of a bumper sticker I once read. "The last time we mixed religion and politics, people got burned at the stake." I don't believe that religion and politics should ever mix, especially in "the land of the free".

Church and state should always be separate. They do not mix. If one is in politics then he will need to keep his religious views to himself when acting in a political manner. If one is religious then he should keep his political views to himself when acting in a religious capacity.

That is why I do support the seperation of religion and state. I think that everyone has the right to their religous beliefs but I will not be forced either. I will not have a person that puts their pants on the same way that I do every morning say that I am less or wrong for not following their example...no matter what that means. Even if I believed the exact same thing they did...I would not show them agreement if they stood in front of people and acted as though their way was the only way and anyone else was less. I think that sometimes people take a good thing and make it in to what they need it to be. I think that by standing in front of people and stating that just goes to show that he is not the "christian" that he claims to be anyway. Ewwww...that burns me a new one.

The statement given, and the claims you made, don't seem to add up. You seem to be implying many things that are not eluded to in the statement. " If you have not accpted Jesus as the Savior, you are not my brother ." That is a theologically sound statement, reflected in Biblical belief. Where in that statement did he claim he intended to make non-christians second class citizens, or push for a Christian-only state? I think you are getting a little worked up over nothing. It's not like he was saying it was the duty of Christians to slaughter non-christians like some Islamists have said.

Mr Bentley's idea of "making everyone's life better" may, unfortunately, involve making sure that everyone subscribes to his particular brand of Christianity. He very likely genuinely believes that, if you haven't accepted Jesus into your heart, you haven't taken advantage of the benefits and blessings that God has freely offered. This argument is paralleled by the one that says "The Government offers benefits to those in particular need (unemployment and housing benefits, for example). If you choose not to apply for them, you are rejecting the Government's offer to make things better for you." Of course, the difference is that the Government makes the information and the benefits available but you aren't pressured or made to feel a second class citizen or less of a member of your nation if you don't take up the offer. I haven't seen the reports of this speech, so it's hard to determine whether what you say is actually what Mr Bentley intended to convey or whether it is an inference drawn by an unsympathetic media source. I have so often seen articles which report such statements 'selectively' and even take quotations from it and juxtapose them completely out of context. If Mr Bentley really intended to convey that he would not represent all American citizens in his State equally, then I think that he should take time out to re-read the American Constitution!

way to alienate your voting base,dude. i bet anybody that is of a different religion that just voted for him is having second thoughts.

Right in the Bible Belt too...Imagine that. Lets see, we have the muslims in the midwest, Texas, Michigan, NYC, Mass, etc. We have the christians in the Bible Belt and elswhere. When does the war start...I need to know when and where so I can move out of the way in time.

If this is what Gov Robert Bentley said then it is he who has to make his own life better. Even before Jesus incarnated on Earth there have been hundreds of incarnations of God who were born to help the suffering people and rescue them from the miseries of this worldly life.All religions have the incarnations of God as their founders and their main aim was the upliftment of mankind.All religions carry the same message but it is their followers who start differntiating and create tussles,fights and wars, with each one saying that his religion is superior than the others.It is time that people understood that there is only one God and the different incarnations are nothing else but a part of him. So Gov Bentley should retract his statement otherwise he will have to face the wrath of his subjects.

I always believe that religion and civil government should be separated...one has nothing to do with the other...if any one has her/his own belief that is their own choice.... the government is there to protect the country and it's citizends not to preach religion!.

I read about this words from yahoo. This is speech of the so called governor of Alabama. This man did not think what he must say to the public. He forget about the constitutions where he should follow as a ruler or governor. What he thinks about himself. He's religion is the true religion? In fact if he really read the bible. His religion did not found in the bible... He must be thinking wise is such particular cases. Because it will make people around that state being fear of discrimination to other religions...

For me in the bible yes he is the savior but he is not the almighty God because Jehovah is the almighty God.

If he'd said, "Biologically speaking most people aren't my brothers," would there have been an objection? This is pretty much stating the obvious. I don't even know if he has any biological brothers. We'll probably expect the governor to have a somewhat different relationship with his biological brother than with most other people but we'd still expect him to try to do his job for the benefit of all in his state. As has been pointed out by others, the governor's statement was Biblically correct. The Bible says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Therefor the governor should treat all well, even if they're not his brothers. I really think people are overreacting. How would people react if he wasn't a Christian and made some statement to the effect that those who didn't follow his religion weren't "his brother"? Would there have been the same sort of fuss?

I don't know if we should take that as not representing people who aren't Christians, but I agree with the rest of your post. Furthermore, for a Christian, he doesn't seem to know his Bible teachings very well. Christ never once said that only those who accept Him as their savior are brothers... in fact, one of the few things He said with perfect clarity is that we are all brothers. I think the first requirement of accepting Christ's teachings should include accepting what He taught. ;~D

I don't think it's appropriate for a person in office to say that kind of thing. You aren't elected to represent only the people you like. Your elected to represent everyone in the district.

I'd heard about this jerk on the news and in my opinion, someone like him had no business running for office or having any involvement in politics! He obviously has no knowledge of the Constitution or of what his duties as governor should be. If I lived there, I'd already be campaigning against him and if they have a recall law in Alabama I'd be trying to get a movement going for that. Annie

What an anal statement...how did he ever get elected in the first place?

If he governs in the way that people "aren't his brothers" unless they're subscribing to the exact same religion he is, then it's obviously a problem. However, this seems more like a guy trying to win favor with Christians by acting devoutly religious. I'm so cynical of politicians that I honestly don't believe they believe in any "god," or at least they're not interested in living up to holy principle. They only try to convice the god-fearing bloc they are. The "you are not my brother" line isn't really an implication of anything other than you, me, and anyone else not subscribing are no brothers of his. To that, my simple response is so what? I don't need to be the guy's brother. Who does? And if he's planning on catering to only those he considers brethren, he's a schmuck and should be out of there. He's probably a schmuck anyway, despite comments like these.

That is not the statement of a man-of-God, but of a man-of-church or man-of-mankind. I understand, as Lord Jesus Christ separates Our Father's flock from Our Father-in-Law's flock ; but the Myo- (divine command) outweighs that of anyone humanity can name. The closest we can get to godliness is to follow the one who is most-godly; this dude I heard about who was convicted, executed and reborn. Maybe that's what he meant when he said 'Christian' (whether he knew it or not)---'a family-member of The Anointed.'