There’s been much talk about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith — much as there was much talk about John F. Kennedy’s Catholic faith.
The latter assuaged some fears with the speech above, which was delivered in 1960 to the Greater Houston Ministerial Alliance (a transcript’s here).
Sharon sent a New York Times story about gay rights and the Mormon church. Here’s one view of what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says about homosexuality, though there is evidence that the church is evolving. Should Candidate Romney speak out more about how much his faith will dictate his actions in regard to equal rights, should he be elected president?
And thanks, Sharon, for that link.
Dating Jesus 
I would love to see Mittens look America in the eye and talk how his Mormon faith will influence his positions on equal rights…separation of church and state…voting rights…just to name a few.
Not that I would believe a word he said.
And not that I think it’s ever going to happen.
But it would be interesting to hear…and the media buzz afterward would be really interesting.
Think it will happen?
Not before the election. Possibly after.
I think the last thing the GOP/Tea Party vanguard want right now is drawing attention to Romney’s Mormonism. Fundamentalist Christians make up a significant portion of their base of support and many of those folk don’t consider Mormonism as Christian. They think it’s a cult. (Of course…some of them don’t think Catholics are Christian either.)
The vanguard doesn’t want any distractions to the “Anybody But Obama” message.
But sure there are moderates in there. Surely there are moderate people who want a Republican candidate, just because of their fond memories of the Republican Party That Was.
I’m having difficulty getting a mental image of “moderate Republican.”
Oh…I know they’re out there…(Bacevich for example)…and I’m sure they base their support of Romney on his party affiliation more than his religious affiliation. But apprehension over Mormonism could make for a mighty “clumsy dance” in the media…So they’ll probably want to avoid it.
But when you talk about grassroots power raking in the Big Bucks and getting voters to the polls…that’s Tea Party. And that’s fundamentally Christian. That’s fundamentally “Anybody But Obama.”
That’s the LAST thing social conservatives wants to hear from him. The establishment clause only goes one way for them. They think the modern interpretation is destroying religion in America, too bad they don’t realize its what let religion flourish here.
What struck me about the Times article was the reference to the leader of the LDS as “the prophet,” whose word is law to its members. It sounds to me like he has at least as much direct authority as the Pope, if not more. What happens when his decisions collide with those of the non-Mormon segment of the American people? Do we really want to find out?
I think all of those points are excellent ones, and all are strong reasons why Romney must side-step any discussion of religion.
The Fundamentalists are totally against separating their view of Christianity from government policy. Just look at how well Santorum did with his base, and Rick Perry’s “not afraid to be a Christian” video, not to mention his “Jesus would have rebuked him for it” mass pray-in. So Romney cannot say that religion should be separated from governing.
But if he broaches that subject at all, then his Mormonism with all the stuff about the prophet, the sheets of gold, Jesus having visited North America, the magic underwear, Mormonism as a cult, and all that other stuff will stir up lots of voters. (This, of course, highlights the fallacy of the Santorum-like “religion runs government” idea. They love it as long as it is THEIR view of religion in charge, but if it is somebody else’s view, well, not so much).
So it seems to me that Romney bringing up ANYTHING to do with religion would be a little like him grabbing a very large, hungry and angry alligator by the tail.