Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, gave his much-anticipated “Faith in America” speech yesterday explaining how his religion would or wouldn’t affect his candidacy. Even though I am a Democrat supporter I am following Mitt’s campaign closely because I am a member of the same church as him – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I have not seen the speech yet but I’ve read a bit about it, and personally I think he did a good job. He didn’t go into points of doctrine in our church and compare our beliefs with other religions, nor should he need to do this. He said, “There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church’s distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.”
He also said, "I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith." This is true. You can vote for someone because they are the same religion as you if you like, but it shouldn’t be the only determining factor on whether or not to vote for a candidate.
He’s also right when he said, “In recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America—the religion of secularism. They are wrong.” There’s nothing wrong with a government being based in Christian principles, but the state and religion (especially a specific religion) should be kept separate.
Mitt says he would not distance himself from his faith, and nor should he. Being a Latter-day Saint guides him in his life and gives his life purpose, just like it does with mine. He said, “Some believe such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.”
There are a lot of Christians who think that Mormons are not Christian. (I don’t know how they can say that when the name of our church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”!) So Mitt quickly put that to rest when he said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour 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.”
Even though I don’t want to support a Republican I want to see Mitt do well in this campaign, and keep that radical Mike Huckabee out!
The church issued a statement yesterday reemphasising its political neutrality. It says, “The Church’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to elect politicians. The Church’s neutrality in matters of party politics applies in all of the many nations in which it is established.” Then why do most people in Utah vote Republican? I’ll never be able to understand that.
Here are some news articles on Mitt’s speech: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/06/romney.speech/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/us/politics/06cnd-romney.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1196971712-SwrOCw0KthGDp7VztDuq1w
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695233771,00.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695233791,00.html
http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2ced329706ca6110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD
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2 comments:
Most of them vote republican for the same reason most LDS aussies vote liberal. Because the other party pushes so many things which are against the teachings of the church. In Australia we've got labor covernments pushing same sex marriage, IVF and adption for same sex couples, abortion rights, prostitution etc. Regardless of what people think on war policies, economic policies etc, it's hard for christians to support governments that are so often so anti christian.
Hi Anonymous,
As a Latter-day Saint I would never vote Liberal if I was in Australia or Republican if I was in the States. Yes, they may have Christian polices but there are many of their policies which I do not like, and I'm afraid this outways their Christian values. How can a "Christian" party support a war in Iraq which shouldn't be happening? How can a "Christian" party allow global warming to continue? I beleive in the separation of church and state, so if parties such as Labor and the Democrats have "anti-christian" policies, so what! I beleive that people should have freedom and leave how they choose. These parties support the "common" person in the street, not just the elect few
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