Mormons, Christians, and Politicians - Part 2

I meant to finish this followup a while back, but my life got busier than I had anticipated. But I do want to move on to the question of Mitt Romney's campaign for President. He's not the first Mormon to run for President, but certainly seems to have a greater chance of obtaining the Republican nomination than any we've seen.

A lot of the press on Mitt Romney's campaign, especially when he first announced, has focused on whether people could vote for a Mormon for President.

Now that Romney has, more or less, given his "JFK" speech, I wonder how people are now feeling as to whether they could vote for a Mormon for President. What's funny about the question is you probably already have voted for a Mormon for different political offices, and have either been unaware of that candidate's Mormon faith, or decided it was not an important factor. Why should the presidency be any different?

My point is that there have been Mormons in politics (and on both sides of the aisle) for many, many years, and Salt Lake has not dictated to them how they should vote, or what their position on the issues should be. In fact, when elections are coming, we get a letter read in our church meetings every election season that reminds us that the church does not advocate particular candidates, and church facilities and rosters are not to be used for political purposes. What we are encouraged to do is to study the issues and the candidates and use our best judgment in deciding who and what to vote for.

I do not speak for the church, so nothing I say here should be construed to be official church position.

But after the various interviews that Mitt Romney has conducted, I hope people will finally come around to the idea that whether he is a Mormon or not is irrelevant if they are voting for him or not.

No matter what a candidate's religious background is, if I voted for or against them because of that background, I am voting for the wrong reason. Are you not voting for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon? If so, you are voting for the wrong reason. Are you voting for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon? If so, you are voting for the wrong reason. Even I am probably giving him more of a chance than "normal" because he is a Mormon. But ultimately I need to completely waive his (or my) Mormon faith in evaluating who I will vote for. The positions are what's important, and what they will fight for.

Who we vote for should be the best person to lead the country, whether they are a Mormon, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Muslim, or even Athiest.