Roberts starting the confirmation process to become a Supreme Court Justice, a possible second retirement from the SCOTUS, Tancredo sparking a brouhaha for saying the US should bomb Mecca if provoked, and now Mitt Romney announcing he's running for President. This political season is hot and I like it!
I like Mitt Romney especially since he was willing to take a strong stand against embryonic stem cell research despite most of Massachusettes being favorably disposed to it. He probably has a good chance of getting the nomination, which would be a first for a Mormon. I am curious to how his Mormonism will play out in the media and with the GOP constituency. I think he'll have a tough time getting the conservative evangelical vote after reading the following quote from an online Atlantic Monthly article (ht: NRO):
"How Mormon am I?" he said. "You know, the principles and values taught to
me by faith are values I aspire to live by and are as American as motherhood and
apple pie. My faith believes in family, believes in Jesus Christ. It believes in
serving one's neighbor and one's community. It believes in military service. It
believes in patriotism; it actually believes this nation had an inspired
founding. It is in some respects a quintessentially American faith, and those
values are values I aspire to live by. And I'm not perfect, but I'm one aspiring
to be a good person as defined by the biblical Judeo-Christian standards that
our society would recognize."
Romney has to make his Mormon beliefs sound mainstream in order to get votes from people who are normally suspicious of cult-like religions. It is true that Mormons share a very similar ethic and morality to Christians. However, the problem is that evangelical Christians know that Mormonism is NOT Christianity and so does Romney. So, in his attempt to sound mainstream about his beliefs he's actually hurting his chances among evangelical Christians who don't like disingenuous religious claims that attempt to collapse the differences between mutually exclusive religious beliefs. For example Romney equivocates on the phrase "believes in Jesus Christ" in the above quote. To say he has a belief in Jesus Christ is to be so vague as to be meaningless. Does belief mean he accepts the orthodox Christian definition of belief, or does he simply have a historical belief? A Mormon belief in Jesus and a Christian belief in Jesus are two very different beliefs. Mormons do believe that Jesus existed, but they do not believe in One triune God, with Jesus Christ being the second person of the trinity who died a sacrificial death so that we might be saved from our sin. This is the Christian view of Jesus not the Mormon. Evangelical Christians will bristle at the idea that Mormon belief and Christian belief are essentially the same. In some respects, Romney is between a rock and a hard place. If he affirms that his beliefs are different than orthodox Christianity, he'll probably lose votes from both the left and the right who are wary of Mormons. If he tries to minimize the differences and instead speak in civil religion type terms, then he'll alienate conservative evangelical Christians who will resent his attempts to sound like one of them.
I have an evangelical Christian Conservative friend who said if Romney wins the nomination, he may end up voting for the Democrat because he couldn't vote for a Mormon. I think this is silly and fallacious reasoning for making political decisions. I'm not sure why exactly he would vote this way, it may have something to do with not wanting to legitimize Mormonism through such a public and national position. Although I can sympathize with this reason, it does make me wonder how many people have converted to Mormonism BECAUSE Romney was the Governor. Though I disagree with Romney's religious beliefs, I do not think they should necessarily disqualify him for consideration. If he's a true conservative who will propose policy in keeping with his conservative beliefs, that's more important to me as a voter than if he gets his own planet when he dies (I'm assuming this is a Mormon belief based on anecdotes from others. I have never researched this tidbit myself). To vote for a Democrat simply because Romney's a Mormon seems to me to be cutting off your nose to spite your face. While I can say that I wouldn't rule Romney out because he's Mormon, I cannot say the same would be true if he were a Muslim. I'm still thinking through why that would be and perhaps I'll post on it later. Right now it's more of a gut reaction than a reasoned decision. But just because I wouldn't vote for him if he were a Muslim doesn't mean I'd vote for the Democrat!
I do hope his being Mormon leads to a fruitful national discussion about the role of religious beliefs in politics. Everyone has a belief system whether it's religious or irreligious. The reigning ideal of a neutral public square and government is pernicious and false. It's false because everyone has a worldview that shapes their attitudes and beliefs. If your worldview is not shaped by religion then it is shaped by some other philosophy (like naturalism or materialism). The only difference between the two is that a religious worldview is much easier to spot and to ridicule. I'd rather see all ideas battle it out in the public square regardless if they're religious. Let voters decide what's persuasive and what is not instead of using subtle bigotry to marginalize those with religious beliefs. As such, the Muslim who runs for President would have the opportunity to address my skepticism in an attempt to persuade me he'd be the perfect candidate because of or irrespective of his religious beliefs. Those who believe in materialism (the philosophy that all that exists is matter) should have to answer the tough questions of how their beliefs are consistent with Democracy (I don't believe they are) just as those who have religious views must do. Neutrality simply does not exist.
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