A Republican candidate for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, whose platform calls for redefining Islam as "militant cultural imperialism seeking world domination," drew fire Monday for saying he doesn't believe Islam is protected under the First Amendment.

Pella Republican Rick Phillips told Quad Cities television station WHBF that he believes the founding fathers were specifically talking about Christianity and its denominations when they established the freedom of religion outlined in the Bill of Rights.

"They were not talking about anti-Christian beliefs," he said. "Now, if a person doesn't want to believe in Christ, that's their business. But to say that this First Amendment right includes all religions in the world, I think, is erroneous."

Reached by the Des Moines Register Monday afternoon, Phillips said he has spent time personally studying Islam and believes that when a Muslim swears the oath to the Constitution using the Quran, that negates the constitutional law because they are "sworn to turn this country into an Islamic country."

He said former president Barack Obama brought several Muslims into the country and there has been an increasing number of mosques built since 9/11.

"All this is packaged as if it's harmless, and stuff like that," he said. "But I really see this as an invasion to install a caliphate — an Islamic form of government — here."

Both the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, and the Republican Party of Iowa have condemned Phillips' remarks.

In a news release, Robert S. McCaw, director of government affairs for CAIR, called on state and national Republican Party leadership to "repudiate these Islamophobic, unconstitutional views."

"The Constitution must protect Americans of all faiths," he said. "The kind of hatred and anti-American views promoted by Mr. Phillips places in danger both constitutional protections of religious freedoms and the safety of ordinary American Muslims."

Republican Party of Iowa spokesman Aaron Britt said in an email that Phillips' comments "are not reflective of the views of the Republican Party of Iowa."

The 59-year-old Phillips, who resides in Pella, is among five candidates running in the Republican primary for the seat, from which Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City, is retiring at the end of his term.

Phillips is an Iowa native and Marine Corps veteran who is semi-retired after working for years as a vacuum cleaner repairman and salesman. He ran unsuccessfully in the U.S. House 3rd District primary in 1996 and lost a bid for Mahaska County Sheriff in 2004. In 2010, he attempted unsuccessfully to get on the ballot in the governor's race as part of the Constitution Party of Iowa.

A platform posted to Phillips' campaign website labels Islam as a "hostile ideology antithetical to the United States Constitution," and calls for its religious status to be revoked.

He told WHBF that he was not promoting hate, but was "just calling a spade a spade." He told the Register that he believes increasing Muslim involvement in politics is to "disassemble our constitution." He pointed to two Muslim members of Congress, Democratic U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, as examples.

Phillips, who describes himself as "your nostalgic kind of American patriot," said he's running because he sees an encroachment on American values by the "LGBTQ agenda" and pushes by Muslims, communists, socialists and Marxists.

Other planks of the platform include abolishing the federal Department of Education, securing the nation's borders by putting a 10-year moratorium on immigration until the illegal immigration situation is resolved, and loosening gun restrictions.

Phillips is a longshot candidate in the primary, facing fellow Republicans Tim Borchardt, Steven Everly, Iowa Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Illinois Congressman Bobby Schilling in the upcoming June 2 primary. The winner will face Rita Hart, of Wheatland, who is running as the sole Democrat.

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.