A few weeks ago, candidate Ben Carson was asked if he would support a Muslim for president. Probably the best response would have been, “No Muslim is running for president this year or in the foreseeable future. It’s a very hypothetical question, Chuck. So let’s get back to the serious questions of our day.” Of course that is not how Ben Carson answered, and various critics made a huge flap over his response.

Now that some of the controversy has died down, I want to talk about the more relevant question. Could we support a candidate running for any office who is Muslim? We don’t have any Muslim candidates for president, but we do have some who have run for Congress and many who have run for state and local offices. Here is where some level of political and spiritual discernment is necessary.

Let’s first look at the extremes. On one hand you have an orthodox Muslim candidate who is Sharia-observant and believes that the only legal foundation for the law is the Qur’an. He believes that the Qur’an, the hadiths, and the pronouncements of various Imams are binding not only on him but also on every person. He is calling for a Caliphate in order to bring Sharia law to the whole world. Do you vote for this Muslim candidate? The obvious answer is no.

At the other extreme might be a secular Muslim who rarely attends mosque. The candidate is considered Muslim only because he or she was born in a Muslim country or was born in America to Muslim parents. He supports the U.S. Constitution and demonstrated his allegiance to our country by serving in the military or by serving in an elected office. Do you vote for this Muslim candidate? You certainly could vote for this candidate if his or her political platform conforms to your view.

In between these two extremes is the more difficult question. Being a Muslim should not disqualify a candidate. Article VI in the Constitution forbids a religious test for public office. But that does not mean we should vote for someone to fill that office if we feel that he or she has an allegiance to a religious perspective that rejects the Constitution.