Romney’s Faith Speech

Ok, I’ll chime in with the rest of America on this speech.

My first thought on the speech has nothing to do with the speech itself, but with CNN’s broadcast of the speech. Just a few minutes in, CNN covered half the screen with a graphic intended to inform viewers about Mormonism. I guess they assumed that Romney wasn’t going to do the job himself. The graphic was very distracting and quite unfair to Romney. I’m not sure if the decision was made because CNN is biased, or because they, like all the other 24 hour news networks, like to bombard their viewers with excessive information, taking it past the point of diminishing returns. Considering the fact that the recent CNN/YouTube debate proved that they think Conservative voters are interested only in guns and Confederate flags, I tend to think the decision was based on CNN’s bias, with maybe a dash of info-bombing. (In case you missed it, CNN included a question from a gun-wielding militiaman who wanted to know exactly how many and what kinds of guns the candidates had. I was astonished. 5,000 questions were submitted, and this is what they chose? This is what they think Conservatives want to know?)

Second, deciding not to vote for Romney because he’s a Mormon is not violating the Constitution’s ban on religious tests. The Constitution forbids the government from imposing religious tests, but the voters can, and usually do, consider a candidate’s religion when deciding whether or not to vote for him. Think about it. Would you want a radical Islamist as president? What about a Scientologist? Sure, a person’s faith is between him and God, but if he’s a candidate for president and his faith is too far out in left field, then it raises some serious questions about his judgement. And, if his church is secretive and taciturn regarding its doctrine, then that should cause you to think twice about voting for him.

Now to the speech itself. There really wasn’t anything new here. Romney made some excellent points about the role of faith in society and politics, but those points have already been made before, including in this very weblog. But it never hurts to bring them up again. Romney eloquently defended the belief that religion and liberty go hand in hand,

Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

He also pointed to the danger of government-sponsored religion,

I'm not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I have visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired . so grand . so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe's churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.

However, Romney only gave partial answers to the questions people have about his church. Christian voters are concerned about Romney’s relationship with Jesus Christ. Many have heard that Mormons do not believe that Jesus is God, and they want to know if this is true. Romney’s answer:

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.

Here, we received only a partial answer. Romney appears to answer the question, but he really doesn’t. The question is: does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in the Trinity? Why dance around the issue? Certainly you must have good reasons to believe what you do. Let’s hear those reasons. Even the LDS’s own website isn’t clear about this. It isn’t Romney’s faith that gives me qualms about voting for him, it’s his reluctance to be open and clear about it.

The next thing that really stuck out in my mind was this part:

Americans do not respect believers of convenience.

Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.

I thought it was quite odd for Romney to say this since he has received quite a bit of criticism over converting to the pro-life side right around the time he started thinking about running for president. Funny how he was pro-choice while running in Massachusetts, but now that he is seeking the Republican nomination he’s pro-life.

All in all it just seems to me that Romney is too slick, too polished, and he isn’t as strong on the two most important issues in this campaign, immigration and fair trade, as I would like for him to be. There are two wings to the Republican party, the Christian wing and the corporate wing. Romney appears to me to be in the corporate wing. That doesn’t earn him any points with me.

–J.E. Heath
per-fidem.org

Texian Weblog © Copyright 2007, Jason E. Heath