Romney's Mormonism: Religious Intolerance is Not Dead
Posted By James BesserPolitical Insider: Romney's Mormonism: Religious Intolerance is Not Dead
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So: some Barack Obama critics are taking flak for spreading untrue stories that he's a secret Muslim - as if being a Muslim is an automatic disqualifier for high office. In response, the Obama campaign put out a flier depicting the candidate as a "committed Christian," earning him criticism from some Jewish groups concerned about the mixing of faith and politics.
But have you noticed a certain silence when it comes to Mitt Romney, the resurgent Republican contender who still faces deep and seemingly intractable religious prejudice because of his Mormon faith?
It's a particular problem for Romney, who has recast himself as a values conservative, because the voters he most needs to survive the GOP primaries - the religious right - are the ones who view Mormonism with the greatest suspicion.
Over the weekend a top official of the political arm of the Focus on the Family ministry, one of the most powerful groups on the Christian right, suggested that Romney himself believes Mormonism is not actually a Christian faith.
"Mitt Romney has acknowledged that Mormonism is not a Christian faith and I appreciate his acknowledging that," Tom Minnery, a senior Focus on the Family vice president, said in a video voters guide put out by the group.
Only one problem: Romney says he IS a Christian, and the Mormon Church takes a dim view of those who claim it is a deviant sect that is not truly Christian.
A poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 25 percent of Americans say they would be less like to vote for a Mormon for president. The good news for Mormons is that puts them ahead of homosexuals and atheists; the bad news is that it puts them far behind most other religious groups, including Jews.
Further, 31 percent of Americans say they do not believe Mormons are Christians and another 17 percent say they are unsure.
It became part of the political wisdom after Joe Lieberman's 2000 vice presidential race that being Jewish was no longer a liability to those seeking high office.
But the 2008 presidential contest, with most candidates vying to prove their Christian credentials and some, like Romney, having to defend their faith as genuine Christianity, suggests that religious bias is alive and well in American politics.
And why have Jewish leaders been so silent about the overt religious bigotry in some attacks against Romney?