Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Published May 11th, 2007Joseph Smith, that is. This election cycle, we have a Mormon running for president. It isn’t the first time - Joseph Smith himself ran in 1844. He was also brutally killed during his candidacy. It’s an interesting story for another time, feel free to read about it yourself - it was a violent reaction to censorship of the press. George Romney, Mitt’s father, ran in 1968.
Mormonism is a relatively new religion with a strong centrally governed fellowship. So once again, just like in 1960 with JFK, the issue of how religion should affect the President is very up-front. For those of you who know me, I’m very clear on my views of separation of church and state -Â they should be very separate. Very very separate. I am personally offended that I cannot say a pledge of allegiance to this country, my country, without also pledging that it is “under God” - to me that is forced theocracy. “In God We Trust” on money is laughable - of all things to put on the basic symbol of material wealth! The Constitution states that there can be no religious test for office - and it’s a very, very important rule. One I support wholeheartedly. But that doesn’t mean that a citizen cannot decide to support a candidate based on his religion - the voter has that right. And so, with a Mormon running for President, millions of Americans are weighing that fact - because Mormonism is just so bizarre to so many “regular” Christians.
Now I find all Christianity a little bizarre. That’s just me. Though raised Catholic, I just don’t get it anymore. I don’t see what other people see in it. And I have a good many friends who range from areligious to very, very religious. And that’s fine - I wouldn’t try to tell them to live in any other way. I believe a great many things I can’t prove either. And almost all of them are aware of my complete disbelief in religions. The point is - when I see one group of religious calling another group of religious “bizarre” or “strange” - I kinda have to laugh. They just believe different, unprovable things. And they’ll probably never convince the other of anything.
So Mitt Romney, Mormon, is running for President. His faith is run by church leaders in Salt Lake. And many, many conservative Christian sects find his religion to be bizarre, cult-like, heretical and even not very Christian at all. How can he get past this? For JFK it was pretty easy - all he had to do was say that he was a Catholic but America, not Rome, came first. If there was ever a conflict of interest between his religion and his country, he’d resign. Basically, he said that church and state were to be very, very separate, and I admire him for it. But Romney is in a completely different boat. For Republicans in this era, faith is a crucially important component of qualification. Romney can’t say what JFK said - it would kill his candidacy. Many Republicans want their candidate’s religion to influence how he governs the country. They want God to be speaking through their President. And that’s their right - that’s how they want to cast their vote. Romney somehow has to tell them that his religion isn’t important (because Mormons are weird to many Republicans), but that it is still sort of important (because they want God’s will to be represented). What a strange tightrope for Romney to walk!
In a sense this might be good for Mormons all over. Romney’s campaign will have to educate those who know very little about Mormonism. Many are prejudiced against Mormons based on what they’ve heard or what non-Mormons might have told them. Indeed, 30% of America has said they will not vote for a Mormon under any circumstances - so there is definitely a problem there. The question is - by educating the ignorant, will that spur more or less acceptance of Mormons? Will they find Mormons less weird, or more?
Hopefully, the education campaign will work and people will not vote against him just because he’s Mormon. I personally don’t care what religion the President is as long as his political views align with mine. I don’t care why he (or she) thinks the way they do, just that I agree with it. If a talking chair tells them what to do, and it’s always the right choice - so be it! (And how fun would that be!) I of course won’t be voting for Romney - not because he’s Mormon, but because his views don’t align with mine much at all. They don’t align because he’s Mormon, but that’s incidental.
So even though I’m prejudiced against religion, I’m not prejudiced against people because of their religion. That’s an important distinction. And no politician in America should be judged solely on his religion, or lack thereof. If a Mormon agrees with your views, even though you’ve been told Mormons are brainwashed and Mormonism is Scientology + 125 years (prominent religious figures have said this), it shouldn’t matter. Vote for them. If someone agrees with your views even though they believe in talking chairs, that shouldn’t stop you either. (As long as the chairs don’t tell them to burn down houses or something, in which case, you agree with some dangerous views)
It is going to be interesting to see how Romney handles this. If he was a Democrat, he could pull a JFK and say his goal was to keep his faith and government as separate as possible - see Harry Reid. But as a Republican, trying to appeal to a broad base of Republicans, Romney is going to have to be a little more creative.
interesting points you made here! i would of course like a president who supports my opinion but it has been SO long since this has been true that i almost doubt it will come to fruition any time soon. but then again there are 616 days left in this administration. we can only hope for something better in the next one. will the american voters wake up and smell the coffee?