Doctrine vs. Politics: Why Evangelicals Should Consider Romney
The editors of this blog do not think that all religions are somehow equally true. Furthermore, we all recognize that their are concrete differences between Mormonism and "mainstream" Christianity, when it comes to theology. However, we do not think those theological differences necessarily create political differences, and they should therefore not directly affect who we support for political office.
There are political issues on which many people will base their views largely on religious reasons. Many voters look for guidance from their religious beliefs to understand the issues of abortion, euthanasia, justification for war, capital punishment, welfare policy and many others. Oftentimes, members of the same religious community actually come to different political views on such issues, despite their common system of beliefs. The proper question for a candidate for office is not where does he worship, but how does his religion influence his policymaking.
It is true that some religions may be incompatible with political leadership in the United States. An adherent to a religion that demands a theocratic government should not be President. Someone influenced by his faith not to respect human individualism and freedom should not be chosen to lead this country. However, it is not the place that a person worships or the faith of a person’s father that should determine whether that person is worthy of support. Instead, voters should analyse the political views that the candidate holds, whether motivated by religion, self-interest, political philosophy, or any other reasoning.
Many people of other faiths have doubts about Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon. But does his Mormonism really make him incapable of properly leading this country? Perhaps people are concerned that someone of a different religion will not properly respect the dignity of human life. However, Mitt Romney has clearly stated in this campaign that he is staunchly Pro-Life. Perhaps some voters fear that, based on early Mormonism’s practice of polygamy, that a person of that religion might not have a proper respect for the institution of Marriage. However, Mr. Romney has been married to his wife for nearly forty years, and their five sons have cheerfully volunteered to help with their father‘s campaign. It seems evident that among the leading Republican candidates, Romney is the only one who properly respects Marriage and family. It would be quite understandable for voters to be concerned if a candidate’s religion caused the candidate to lack respect for this country. However, when this country was in the international spotlight for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Mitt Romney led the turnaround necessary to make the games a success.
Some of our contributors are strongly supportive of Governor Romney, but it is not support of him or any other candidate that has motivated the whole editorial board to write on this topic. Rather, we at The Virginian Federalist believe that it is of the utmost importance that the debate in the Republican primary focus on issues that truly matter, so that the GOP can select the best possible candidate to address the many challenges currently facing this country. If that person is Mitt Romney, then it would be shameful to exclude him because of his religion only.
Although we recognize the significant theological differences between Christianity and Mormonism, The Virginian Federalist believes that, insofar as Governor Romney’s politics are influenced by the tenets of his religion, his beliefs will lead him to make political decisions in line with evangelical voters. With that in mind, we believe that all voters should take the opportunity to judge Governor Romney on his stated political views and record of accomplishment, rather than disregard his Presidential candidacy based solely on religious disagreement.
19 comments:
I reject Romney based on politics - his political views and trustworthiness.
Excellent write up. I agree 100% - and after taking a serious look at Romney on the issue, I believe he is the strongest candidate on the GOP side and will be a great president.
Nice essay but I take issue with your snide statement, "significant theological differences between Christianity and Mormonism"
I am not a Mormon but I do know YOU do not get decide who is a Christain and who is not.
I know that is all the rage in some circles but it is not up to you.
The Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ do indeed worship Christ, which is the defintion of Christianity.
You may not like the METHODS they use to worship Christ, but they do worship him.
.
Please stop being so arrogant as to think you get to speak for Christ and determine who is and who is not worthy in HIS eyes of being called a Christain.
Amen!!! The Latter-day Saints (AKA "Mormons"), who I know, are such kind, honest, responsible people. Any religious beliefs would sound strange, if scrutinized enough. Evangelical Christianity and Mormonism may have different Theology, but if anything Mormons may actually have better Christian values than most Christians, once you get to know them. I grew up Baptist and I could completely trust a President Mitt Romney.
JAB - that kind of reasoning I can respect completely. Every voter should look at all the candidates and evaluate their views on issues, trustworthiness, and ability, and base their vote on that judgment.
GeorgiaMom - we did not intend for that comment to be "snide" or disrespectful. However, this article was not really addressed to people who, like you, already recognize and respect Romney's religion. The point of this post is that, when voting for President, there are much more important issues than "who is worthy of being called a Christian." For examples, see the comment to Mr. Bowden.
I think Lumen stated our position correctly.
JAB, while I disagree with your conclusion, you have at least considered or looked at Romney’s political views. We were addressing the fact that so many Christians or more specifically evangelicals dismiss Romney as soon as they find out he is Mormon without ever considering his political views on the issue.
Georgiamom, as Lumen stated we did not intend on offending anyone or addressing whether Mormonism is a cult or part of Christianity. However, our intended audience for this article are those Christians that do see Mormonism as a cult and in turn refuse to even consider his candidacy. Thanks for your statements though.
Thank you for a well thought out and presented view of what is really important in this election. I personally am looking for a candidate that mirrors my core values and my vote is solidly with Romney. There is a scripture that says "by their fruits ye shall know them". His life and accomplishments are all that I need to make my judgment on his qualifications to be the next president.
I really appreciate the message of this post. I am LDS and I will tell you that persanally, I will be voting for Mitt Romney, but it is not at all based on his religion at all. It is because I believe he would be a great asset to this country based on his experience and the issues he is standing for. These are the issues that I hold dear. You see, for more than a century and a half, the LDS people have had to choose, for the most part, from candidates that are not our religious affiliatation. If we held back our votes because of religious beliefs, it is possible that some of the Republican presidencies that have exsisted my not have been because we are generally conservative, though not all. We do have minds of our own just like any other religious group will find Republicans and Demicrates etc. among them. So I guess what I am saying is that I find it kinds of sad that other religions are so quick to judge Mitt Romney because of his religious beliefs, yet I kind of understand. Not that it is right, it is just because the people of this nation haven't had the time that we have to really figure out that it is not one's religion, but the issues and experience of an individual that will be leading this country.
I appreciate your apologies but you miss the point. By both of you using the tern "cult" in your response you are planting that seed at the least or perpetuating the myth.
You are being judgemental of a man's faith while asking people not to be judgemental of the man's faith.
You could have written the exact same essay and been just as effective without the "christianity versus Mormon" line but you felt you had to go there.
Thanks for your fairness.
As a believing Mormon (who is, incidentally, seriously trying to be a disciple of Christ), I've been shocked that some seem to want to relegate me and my family and my friends and fellow believers to a kind of second-class citizenship in the United States.
I did not use the word "cult" in my response above. Also, Publius simply was recognizing in his response that there are many people who do think Mormonism is a cult, and those are included in the people that this post is intended to reach. Finally, we could not have expressed our point as effectively without that line. Our statement that there are doctrinal differences between "Christianity and Mormonism" may not help make Mormons comfortable with us (though "vb" seems to understand our point completely), but it is a necessary recognition in any effort to make many Evangelical Protestants comfortable with giving a fair look at Governor Romney's candidacy.
Your blog was thoughtful and honest. I am a Latter-day Saint and was not offended by your presentation. Evangelicals who make it a point to eliminate LDS from Christianity are only following their religious perspective. Of course I know I am a Christian and I really try to overcome the natural man and follw Christ's teachings. So how others view me will not determine how I relate to God. However, I would encourage conservative Evangelicals to not make the mistake of politically marginalizing Mormons.You will lose an important and effective ally on signifigant social issues. Today the LDS Church is the 5th largest Christian denomination in the USA. Mormons played a vital role in defeating the ERA working with other religious adherents. Let us remember that if you feel you must disparage other faiths, it usually indicates a lack of conviction in your own postion.
Ditto regarding Swanson's comment. I'm active LDS and take no offense whatsover to this article. Let's face it, both LDS and Evangelicals have some pretty strange beliefs vs. the voting world out there, we need to join on our common positions of strength. LDS have been doing that for decades, so we know how you feel. I've gone door to door and taken some substantial abuse calmly defending the same issues we all hold dear. (As a side point, going door to door I was frightened to see how many Christians had been bullied out of their positions due to political correctness or fear of taking an unpopular position.) Regarding Romney, as a life-long practicing LDS, I can totally assure the Evangelicals that Romney will not be taking direction from Salt Lake or the Book of Mormon, if anything, he may overcompensate to the opposite way to avoid the appearance of it. Unfortunately, I don't think Romney has a prayer (no pun intended), there is too much suspicion and paranoia out there to overcome, but I think he would make a terrific president, a crystal clear thinker, has the ability and willingness to really make a difference both domestically and abroad. -Glenn
Regarding this statement: "The proper question for a candidate for office is not where does he worship, but how does his religion influence his policymaking." This may seems right at first glance (Article Six of the Constitution problems aside), but in fact, seldom would a specific doctrinal belief directly influence policymaking. Rather, it is the sum total of influences by a religion that *may* inform the ethical and moral values held by that person. It is then those values, (such as freedom of choice, agency, personal accountability, sacredness of life, hard work, fairness, justice, etc), that underly policy decisions. The discussion about what might or might not inform Romney's past and future policy decisions should focus on what values he actually holds and how past and current decisions and behaviors reflect those values (ie a measure of personal integrity), not on how he came to those values. Perhaps the "proper quesiton" is "what are the 'fruits' of the candidate's value system?" And as properly implied earlier, different religions may hold similar values, and many adherents to a particular religion may come to different ultimate values (for whatever reason) and political views. I find this media-wide wallowing in Gov Romney's religion, trying to make a story where there is none, and judging what is "Christian" and what is not distasteful in general.
I'm LDS, but it doesn't bother me when some folks refer to my religion as a cult. It's not them who I am trying to please or that I look to for salvation. That said, what does disturb me are folks who say they would never vote for a Mormon as president (and probably any other political office). This, to me, smacks of religious bias to the extreme, and indicates a lack of good old common sense. By making that declaration, they are essentially saying "I don't care how good his moral principles are or how effective he has been as a leader in the past (i.e. the Olympics and Governor of Massachusetts) or even how good of a president he would make, he's a MORMON, and that disqualifies him from the start!" Memo to those who have this attitude: Voting for Romney for president does not mean that you are agreeing with his religious beliefs. All it means is that you think he would be the best man for the job as President of the United States. Period. End memo. Don't you owe it to yourself to choose the best qualified candidate? If you don't like Romney's political views, then that is your choice. But to cross him off based solely on his religion? Think about it, will you.
Yes, choosing to not vote for Mitt because of his religion is pretty much like the old saying, "Throwing out the baby with the bath water." The baby being Mitt and all his talents that could actually make a huge difference for the better in this world and the bath water being a conservative religion that others do not want attached to Mitt. And what are you left with in the field of Republican nomanees? In my view, all of the candidates including Mitt have their down sides. No one is perfect. But the dirty water that the other candidates are in are the real kind of concerns I have in a person that would become the leader of the greatest nation on earth and try to represent me.
TVF:
Great post and valuable discussion you have brought to light.
I too am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ (of LDS). For what it is worth, back in January when I decided to start paying attention to presidential politics, I had lunch with a close friend of Romney’s and grilled him on Romney’s policy positions. It was like 20 questions that day. I followed up on a number of points for clarification. As a member of Romney’s faith, I never wanted anybody to be able to challenge me and call me a lemming or one who had decided to support GMR simply because we shared the same faith.
First, I would like to say that I disagree with “anonymous” on this one point: There is no question that GMR can be elected President. I am working in one of the national, unofficial blogs and there is no question he has an excellent chance to be elected President. I don't subscribe to the notion that Evangelical Christians are myopic and would either a) vote for an inferior candidate, or b) not vote at all simply because they disagree with some doctrine of a candidate's religion and don’t like the other choices. I live in California and have many good friends that are Evangelical Christians who have told me they will vote for GMR if in the end they determine he is the superior leader. Evangelical Christians' values are almost identical to members of the LDS church. As well and among other things they preach, they state that as God’s children, we must accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior to be saved by Him (as a “Christian”). Mitt Romney accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior decades ago and has many times referred to his personal relationship with Him.
Should we scrutinize every aspect of GMR's policies and past leadership? ABSOLUTELY! Should GMR be challenged in every way about fitness to be President? ABSOLUTELY!
There are points of doctrine in both Ronald Reagan’s religion and the religion of the Bush family that I don’t agree with and which I may believe do not perfectly adhere to Christ’s original teachings, but not only did I vote for them, I supported and promoted them to be President! And I would do it again. There are so many aspects of their family’s lives and their religions we have in common! There were even things about Ronald Reagan’s family life that I did not agree with, but I voted for him and to this day believe he will go down in American history as one of our finest Presidents.
I happen to think that GMR may be the most gifted, talented, and most intelligent leader to ever run for President. Why would we settle for an authoritarian leader who is pro-abortion, whose family members do not all support him, who is on his third marriage, and who does not even have the support of the American Catholic leadership? And with complete respect to Mr. Thompson, why would we vote for a person who has never been the leader of anything, let alone an executive and who doesn’t even really want to be President? We should vote for them simply because they are not Mormon? I have tremendous respect for and admiration of Evangelical Christians and do not believe for a second that they are not capable of overlooking doctrinal differences of religion to make informed choices. I believe America is at a crossroads. The choice we make at this juncture I think will determine whether we take a strong values-based path in world leadership or whether we take a path in which strong values are an afterthought of the leader of the largest enterprise and government in world history. Governor Mitt Romney has never failed at any venture he has set out to lead. In fact, his legacy thus far is filled with truly extraordinary, major successes (dozens). Do we want to take the chance of electing a woman or man who will fail America?
I just wanted to write really quickly and thank The Virginian Federalist for a well written and well articulated article. I, like many others who have submitted a comment, am LDS. I know many, many people disagree with my choice of religion, but I'm ok with that. What I have always had a hard time with, though, is the sometimes expressed opinions by others not of my faith that by me being LDS I am lesser in individual quality or capacity to fill societal roles. This article, in my opinion, expresses exactly what I feel is the right approach to evaluating Mitt Romney or any other candidate. Thanks again.
@TVF your write up is a fair and clear.
Firstly, I apologize to all for giving my comment here as it really doesn't matter to me at all who will become the next President of your country. I am not US national but been working with many US companies here in the Middle East, I'm Asian looking from a distance as an observer of the world's most powerful nation's elections. I heard so much about this issue in our office but one thing that bother me is that most Americans view a candidate by his spiritual affiliation and not mainly on the political views of a candidate.
You elected GWBush and now look at your country...you are the most insecured country in the world. You created more enemies than allies. Your country seems to be the most unsafe country to visit due to the fact that all your security controls make USA looks paranoid. Why, this is because of the values of the person you elected for President. Bush takes you to this level -he is an oilman and look at where your country is focused...in the Middle East oil producing countries. You wanted to take control of these tiny nations robbing them of their cultural privacy..you created many wars and trying to cover it under the name of charities and funds grant to poor nations.
America became the world's most feared nation not because other nations respect you of your values but because you're bullying small and tiny nations.
Now the election fever is on you, you're disturbed by Romney's being a Mormon? Do you expect your president to preach to the entire USA and America is afraid that you will all be converted. I believe Americans can THINK much more than that. Why all Americans did not focus on issues of religion in your previous elections. Oh by the way, OBAMA is black...it may bother you all as well.
Show us your GREATNESS by way of your thinking. I am not endorsing a candidate here but just dropping my comments.
Don't show the world your weakest side...
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