AJC Calls on Virginia Candidate to Clarify Jesus Remarks

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Sep 24, 2013, 04:48 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC today expressed concern about the comments of E.W. Jackson, a Chesapeake pastor and candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia, that people who don't follow Jesus Christ "are engaged in some sort of false religion."

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Noting that the remarks were made as part of a Sunday morning sermon, Alan Ronkin, director of AJC's Washington, DC Regional Office, said, "We do not question Mr. Jackson's right to hold views about the exclusive truth of Christianity. But that said, as a candidate for public office, his expression of those views at this time places a burden on him to assure Virginians of all faiths that these religious views will not prejudice his performance of the duties of the office he seeks."

Ronkin called on Jackson to publicly clarify his remarks and share how his sentiments about other faiths would affect his decisions as an elected official.

AJC is a non-partisan organization that neither endorses nor opposes candidates for public office.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee