The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that a pastor who introduced Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential favorite Reverend Ricky Perry at a conservative gathering has said rival presidential candidate Mittens Romney is not a Christian and is in a cult because he’s a Mormon.

This is another reason why I’m not a Republican – I don’t like be associated with ignorance and intolerance.

Robert Jeffress, the so-called senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, is no stranger to showing his religious bigotry; as he made an identically imperceptive remark during the 2008 then GOP campaign.

Reportedly, the event organizers at the Values Voters Summit selected Jeffress to introduce Perry, but the Perry campaign was consulted about the choice and approved Jeffress to introduce the Texas governor.

So, Perry’s people obviously share the same lack of unprofessionalism and inability to vet people as Senator John McCain’s staff demonstrated – or do they? Perry’s steady slip in the polls coupled with Michele “Krazy” Bachmann’s push to make nice with evangelicals may have rattled the Texan’s cage enough that he’s ready to start playing the “Mormon” card.

Jeffress – whose comments about Romney clearly show him to be utterly unreliable in judging who is and who is not a Christian – endorsed Perry at the event and introduced him as “a proven leader, a true conservative, and a committed follower of Christ.”

After his remarks, Jeffress told reporters Perry’s religion is different from Romney’s.

“Rick Perry’s a Christian. He’s an evangelical Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ,” Jeffress said. “Mitt Romney’s a good moral person, but he’s not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. It has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity.”

“It has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity.”? Did you really just say that chuckles? Because if you did, clearly mainstream doesn’t mean the same thing to you that it does to, well, to mainstream.

I’m fairly confident Reverend Dullard was meaning the adjective definition of mainstream when he spoke, which is defined as, “belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc…”

I’m equally confident that mainstream Christianity – meaning those Christians whose beliefs are not steeped in the ignorance of 19^th century southern religious sophistries – know that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not only Christian, but devotedly so.

To his credit, Perry – and his campaign – attempted to say he disagrees with Jeffress.

Asked by reporters in Tiffin, Iowa, whether Mormonism is a cult, Perry replied, “No.”

Perry spokesman Mark Miner also said that “the governor does not believe Mormonism is a cult.”

While those comments are reassuring, the campaign refused to say whether it was accepting Pastor Dolt’s endorsement. “The governor is running a campaign of inclusion and looks forward to receiving the endorsement of many people,” Miner said. “People can endorse whoever they like.”

So, by that kind of logic, the Perry campaign will probably not be saying if they’d refuse the endorsements of other individuals or organizations? I’ll leave that up to the imagination of the reader what kind of individuals or groups might want to endorse someone of Perry’s character and background.

Jeffress – who has also said “… the deep, dark, dirty secret of Islam: It is a religion that promotes pedophilia – sex with children. This so-called prophet Muhammad raped a 9-year-old girl – had sex with her”; and who put businesses on a “Naughty or Nice List” based upon the depth to which they celebrated Christmas – said in a 2007 sermon that “Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Even though he talks about Jesus as his lord and savior, he is not a Christian.

“Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult. And just because somebody talks about Jesus does not make them a believer.”

Reportedly, in that sermon, Jeffress said he was frustrated that some religious leaders had backed Romney anyway. “What really distresses me is some of my ministerial friends, and even leaders in our convention, say, `Well, he talks about Jesus, we talk about Jesus, what’s the big deal?’ It is a big deal.”

The AP said Perry’s campaign initially said the decision to have Jeffress introduce Perry had been made strictly by organizers, but a Perry spokesman later backtracked and said the campaign had agreed to it.

“It was their suggestion; it was their choice of who introduced us. They asked our campaign what we thought, and we said OK,” Miner said.

The AP also reported that Jeffress is a prominent religious leader in Texas, and that Perry specifically recognized Jeffress by name during his speech at a dinner for the Light of Life dinner and gala in Dallas.

Perry and Reverend Pudden-head are clearly known associates; the campaign knew what he thought about Romney – their disavowals aside – and they used the opportunity to score much needed points with the uber-conservative evangelical wing of the Tea Party. Romney may eventually win the nomination, by the slightest of margins, but it is very doubtful that the evangelical block will ever vote for him. And while they won’t vote for the President either; they’ll probably just stay home.