Mitt Romney’s Speech & Mormonism

The confusion of our faith and politics affords us continuous errors. After listening to Mitt Romney’s speech, some people are impressed. He compared himself with JFK and his speech when he ran for president. JFK made the point that he was not a “Catholic running for president. He was an American running for president who happened to be a Catholic. Romney followed suit. He claimed he is not a Mormon running for president, but an American who happened to be a Mormon. His major appeal was to the Christian right. Although Romney didn’t say anything controversial, he did obscure some very important facts about his Mormon beliefs. I don’t believe he was trying to be deceptive, but he used terms that would “acceptable” to Christian listeners. He referred to the “founding fathers” which is an acceptable buzz word for Christians. He definitely got in line with the Christina arguments for a moral society. But, there were some tricky points in his speech which may go unobserved or uninterpreted.

First, let’s lay things out in a more apparent way. Mormonism began as a cult and has grown into a “folk-religion.” It may well be that Mormonism is America’s folk-religion. When Joseph Smith received his “revelation” it was to announce that the church had altered the Scriptures, had left the religion of the apostles and prophets and that he was chosen to restore it. He was the undisputed leader of the new cult that broke away from traditional Christianity. Smith was an authoritarian leader that banded together his followers who sought a place to carry out their new revelation. Mormonism refined its beliefs through the years, at least the ones that were clearly offensive, like bigamy.

Some Christians were impressed that Romney declared that he believed Jesus to be the Son of God and the savior of mankind. This is very Christian-like. However, Mormons have said that for a while. Jehovah witnesses will say similar statements. What Mormons will not say is that Jesus Christ is God’s unique Son. Nor will they say He is God, the Son. Mormons have always asserted that Jesus is the Savior of Mankind, but they do not believe that he died for you personally. His redemption is kind of a corporate redemption that is only available to those who walk the Mormon path. They also believe that Jesus was pre-existent as a “spirit baby” and the brother of Lucifer. We don’t have space to go into the “special under garments” nor the need to get married in the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City. Mormons do have some different beliefs than orthodox Christians.

It’s amazing what some Christians will accept. To many the statements Romney made sounded authentic. But, this is where the confusion lay. Because someone is a Mormon doesn’t make him a bad candidate for president. Nor, should it be the test whether he will be a good president. Mormons are moral, for the most part. However, I can’t categorically say that any Christian candidate will be moral either. If morality is the issue, we ought to make that the issue. There was a muddying of the waters in Romney’s speech that may pave the way for him to become the Republican candidate. The problem will be if he’s accepted because of his allusion to Christian beliefs.

Romney’s hurdle is to garner support from the Christian voters – he’s looking for the conservative right’s Christian voting block. Pundits like Pat Buchanan have given Romney’s speech high marks. But Pat Buchanan is the poster child for Libertarian Christianity, not exactly the center of the stream. Buchanan aside, the other apologists have not have not sounded off. They’ll be others who criticize what he said, more than I have.

Here’s what Romney did in his speech. He alluded to a pseudo-Christian faith in his statements about Jesus. He then picked up the argument of fighting the secular left. This was a smart move, very smart. The knee-jerk Christians, whose faith has been politicized, will rally right behind him. Not a bad political move, not at all.

Here’s the downside of it for Christianity: Romney becomes president and people look at Mormonism in a new light. Mormons can’t be that bad, look at Mitt. Romney will secure Mormonism as America’s folk-religion. Mormonism is spiritual enough to satisfy many.

I know people will misunderstand my next statement. However, I’ll try to make this as clear as I can. I don’t have a problem with Romney running for president. Nor do I have a problem with him becoming president. But please, leave my Christianity alone. It’s muddy enough with all the press it gets. It’s muddy enough with the politicized mumbo jumbo of pundits who don’t understand the Scripture and use it for their own political prowess.

Aside from my own consternation about my faith, this ought to be interesting to watch as it plays out. Romney’s ploy to talk about his faith will prompt a response from Mike Huckabee.  This ought to make things interesting, really interesting in the coming months.

Slate.com has more discernment than some of our churches? »« NO PAT ANSWERS:MOVING TOWARD A MORE ENGAGING EVANGELISM|By Ray Ciervo