Hey, Mitt Romney, ‘What about this Mormon thing?’
Excellent question, Bill Bennett.
During the 1960 presidential election, John F. Kennedy addressed the public about Catholicism and its impact on his candidacy. Being a Catholic in 1960, JFK had to reassure the public that the Pope wouldn’t be running the US of A.
Today, Mitt Romney spoke about his Mormon faith, how it shouldn’t be used as a yardstick, etc, etc. It’s so much like Kennedy everyone is saying.
“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,” the former Massachusetts governor said.
Sounds pretty good, very Kennedy-esque.
“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.”
…
“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,” the GOP contender said.
Um. That’s less like Kennedy. Here’s how JFK put it:
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute–where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishoners [sic] for whom to vote–where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference–and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.
We’ve moved from, ‘It doesn’t matter what religion I am because there’s a separation between church and state’ to ‘It doesn’t matter what religion I am because all religion is important.’
Those are very different ideas. Kennedy noted that the important issues facing America were void of religion - ‘for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barriers.’ We have the same issues now, though they are rife with religious feeling and spending these days.
In today’s America, Romney wants voters to know it doesn’t matter what faith a candidate has… just so long as they have one.
Links:
Romney: President needs prayers of people of all faiths [CNN]
Address of Senator John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association [JKF Presidential Library]
Video excerpt from Romney’s Speech [CNN]
Sphere: Related Content
December 9th, 2007 at 4:03 am
I thought it was an impressive display of double talk when your speech asking for tolerance of your nutty space religion goes on to define and condemns athiests and humanists as ’secularists’ seeking destruction of religion.
December 9th, 2007 at 4:23 am
Amen, brother.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
i’ve been fascinated by the prominence of religion in this campaign and have been de.licio.us-ing articles on faith and US politics for a while now with the intent of blogging. The double-whammy of Romney’s open mormonism and the accusation of Obama’s hidden muslim-ness.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
aw, your del.iciou.us must be as full with religion as mine is with “hrc” “gender” “election” “us” “politics”