Curmudgeon's Corner

Candidates' Faith Important?

Posted by Al Campbell on Oct. 10, 2011

U.S., Political, Quality of Life

A comment by a Dallas minister saying that Mormonism was a ’cult’ in reference to Mitt Romney running for the presidency reminded me of the John F. Kennedy run for the presidency when his Catholicism was front page news.  Many had concerns about that at the time.  That caused me to explore some of the differences and similarities of the Mormon faith with other faiths, my own included.

Mormons definitely see themselves as being ‘Christian” and point to the inclusion of Christ’s name in the very name of their church.  There are significant differences in beliefs beyond this.  As is the case generally about many religions, there is a definite lack of knowledge of the Mormon faith amongst many people in our country.  If you are interested in pursuing this topic, I would invite you to use ‘Google’ and to plan on spending several hours in that process to get to at least a surface level understanding.

I do not pretend to be an authority.  I did find the raising of the issue interesting, as well as finding the reactions interesting, and continue to consider whether including or excluding religious beliefs or lack thereof belong in the public debate.

I suspect that the election of Mitt Romney would be no more damaging or beneficial to our country than was the election of “JFK” or “HW” or “BO” with their belief systems.  Presidents do not operate in a vacuum…fortunately.  I would be more comfortable with a leader who shared my belief system but am not certain that is or should be a prerequisite for election.  We are free to believe or to not believe in a particular faith, or to not believe period.

Many would desire that those running for an office be judged on their works alone, while some would prefer to be able to judge the person’s belief system as well as the person’s works.  We each approach the selection of the one for whom we’ll vote as we see fit, and some will rule out Romney because he is a member of the Latter Day Saints church just as some will use that as their primary determinant.  Others will ignore a faith-based conclusion entirely.  That is the right we have as Americans.

Presidential races have changed as our country has changed over time.  Things that didn’t seem important 50 years ago are more important today, and things that were important then are less important today.  The needs of the country differ depending upon the times in which we live and candidates respond to the needs that exist or which are perceived to exist.

I still appreciate knowing as much about a candidate as is possible.