The Virginia GOP sure knows how to pick ‘em. Its candidate for Lt. Governor is going out of his way to induce a collective facepalm amongst non-wingers everywhere. (And when’s the last time you had even heard of, let alone were incensed by a candidate for Lt. Governor?) E.W. Jackson, already a circus-on-wheels of wingnuttery, is tired of being, well, quoted.

He recently told fellow-radical Christianist Bryan Fischer, that to use his own views against him, views he’s proudly espoused as a bishop and as a candidate, is persecution. This was caught by Right Wing Watch:

It’s a sad commentary on our media and culture today that anybody that expresses a Biblical worldview is marginalized and, frankly, not too put too fine a point on it, persecuted for doing so. . . . it’s an attack ultimately on every church-going, Bible-believing Christian out there who holds to a traditional worldview . . .

And what’s the real problem? Obviously, criticizing his positions is unconstitutional.

We’re seeing people apply a religious test and they’re saying anything you believed or said as a minister disqualifies you from serving as Lt. Governor because you hold to these Biblical views.

This is not a “religious test,” Bishop. This is a sanity test, a credulity test, and a character test. If you think LGBT Americans are “poison” and that Democrats are “slave masters,” and also a “coalition of the godless” (if only!), it’s fair game to call you on it, and whatever’s at the root of those beliefs. And the thing is, even if you fail those tests, you can still totally win.

So spare us, Bishop.

Fun side note: Jackson’s complaint is nearly identical to Newt Gingrich’s during the previous GOP presidential primaries, when, after saying something the electorate didn’t like, he insisted, “Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.” This must be something they teach at GOPAC.