Monday, January 08, 2007
Mitt Romney - The Dilemma of a Mormon President
I have made no secret of the fact that I am a conservative and a registered Republican. I am not a religous conservative per se, because I
do tend to think that religous conservatives can be a bit out of wack at times, though I have lots of friends who are. For many Christians
the possible election of Mitt Romney presents a new quandry - do I go with my electoral self or my religious self.
Now let me be straight, yes I know that 1960 and the election of J.F. Kennedy answered whether or not there is a religious test in America. So, there
is no problem with a Mormon president is there? Well, at least for some of us, there is.
(Please note, these thoughts are not final, but are a present reflection and are my opinion and not those of my church, organization, or my beagle).
First off, the Catholic question and the Mormon question are very different. First, there were two issues with Catholics in 1960. First, would JFK’s loyalty
lie with Rome or with Washington. People gave scary scenarios of the Pope running American foreign policy as well as setting the moral tone for the country.
JFK made it clear that he was not going to take his marching orders from Rome and that he was going to be an American President first and a Roman Catholic
second. Personally, I think this is a glaring example of the modernist approach of seperating faith from the rest of self, but I do appreciate what President Kennedy
meant by it, and no doubt Governor Romney will say and mean the same thing - American policy will not be dictated from Salt Lake City.
The second issue in 1960, and alas today, is that there were those who viewed the Roman Catholic Church as the anti-Christ (especially from the fundamentalist
end of the religous spectrum, and alas, from too many evangelicals). Those people were not going to vote for any Roman Catholic. Thankfully the number of people who
view Roman Catholics as “devil worshippers” is very small today (though they are still out there and I do run into them). Let me add that I do not think that Mormons worship
the devil nor that they are servants of the anti-Christ.
Part of the problem with Christianity in the 1950s and early 1960s is how incredibly modern it was (and still is today, again, alas). For many Christians church history began
when their local church was founded. If you asked them to name a “church father” they would maybe name Billy Sunday or Billy Graham. So, people could make (and still
do make) the claim that the Catholic church was a “cult.” How the church that was the church that existed at the time our core doctrines - the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, etc.-
were affirmed can be a cult, they cannot answer. For all the issues that existed in 1960 (and we do need to remember that this was before Vatican II) and still today (with a
firm nod to Richard John Neuhaus one of the best and brighest Catholic thinkers on the issue of Church unity), there was still 95% affirmation on the core doctrines. Most church historians and
theologians (myself included) usually look at the circle of Christianity as very big and includes all groups that affirm the Nicean and/or Apostle’s Creed. Thus groups as disperate as
Roman Catholic, Protestants, Charismatics, Pentacostals, Eastern Orthodox, Annabaptists (Mennonites and Amish), Seventh Day Adventist, and Anglicans all fall into this circle and
are considered Christian. But what about groups outside of the Nicean understanding? Groups like Unitarian-Universalists, Christian Scientists, Jehovah’s Witness, and, most importantly the Church of Latter Day Saints (aka, the Mormons).
The LDS is the largest of these groups, with a worldwide reach. But here is where at least some Christians are going to have real trouble voting for Mitt Romeny as President. The LDS says that it is a Christian community. However their actual doctrines are not within the Nicean Creed circle. They do not believe in the Trinity. While they acknowledge the divinity of Jesus Christ, they do not make his divinity unique (remember the line about “only begotten Son"). And there are more. And we will not even discuss the entire additional books of scripture.
With all do respect to Hugh Hewitt, my favourite radio talk show host, Mormons are not considered to be Christians by most evangelicals, and by no evangeliacl scholars that I know of. They are considered to be a Christian cult, though that word has a lot of very heavily negative connotations. That term is used because of a) the attempt by the LDS to claim Chrsitain membership without actually having beliefs that fall within that camp and b) the way both outsiders and insiders who leave the LDS are treated. There are lots of websites and resources that discuss both of these two issues. On the theological issue I recommend How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation co-written by Denver Seminary professor and theologian Craig Blomberg. That will enable you to decide how far apart both Mormon and Evangelical theologies are.
But still, this is politics isn’t it? For many Christians, yes, its just politics. But for those of us who are ministering to both Mormons and those investigating Mormonism, who keep trying to make people aware of the aborant beliefs of Mormonism, pulling the lever for Romeny will mean that we pull the lever for making Mormonism both mainstream and acceptable. Lets not kid ourselves, a lot of people will become interested in Mormonism if there is a President Romney, a lot of people who, alas, will not worry about many of the issues that are present because, “Well, if the President believes this, it must be “okay.” It is going to make ministering in these situations far more difficult and potentially lead even more people astray.
One of the charges against conservative Evangelical Christians is that they are more Republicans than Christians. This is I think a mostly (there is some truth in it) unfair attack. But, if the question of supporting a man whose religious community is not just non-Christian (I think that many evangelicals would vote for a Jewish President or a Muslim President), but is a member of a community that is outside Christian orthodoxy while claiming to be fully Christian is not at least asked, at least contemplated ("What effect will a Mormon President have in the advancement of the Gospel in America"), well, maybe the charge that they are more Republican than Christiian has validity beyond what I have given it.
So the struggle is real. I don’t know how many people fall into this category, but in a very divided country the loss of even a hundred thousand votes nationwide could mean the difference between victory and defeat, between a President Romney and a President Clinton or Obama or Biden (sorry, that one was to remember that laughter is the best medicine).
I express these thoughts knowing that I open myself up to “religious bigotry” or charges of being anti-Mormon or of placing a religious test in our Constitution. Please understand that I hear that. First off, know that the concerns of my faith trump the concerns of my party or my country (wow, did I say that?). If President Romney would be the greatest president in our history but because of this 2 million people became Mormons, would that be acceptable? (Let me add, I think that Govenor Romney will make a great president). That question is one that as someone who is a Christian, a believer in the Good News of Jesus Christ and called to announce that to the world, wrestle with more than any other.
And let me also say that I am not anti-Mormon. I have had great Mormon friends throughout my life. They are great people (though there are bad Mormons just like there are bad Baptists, Catholics, and Muslims). I love Mormons, but understand that for many Christians the love that we have means that we are called to be agents of the Gospel in their lives. What is fun is that my Mormon friends, compelled by their beliefs and their affection for me (I won’t say they love me, because that is their empotions and, heck, sometimes I am downright unloveable) have shared me to follow their way as well. This is why I love our country - we have the freedom to love each other to the fullest extent of what each of understands to be “love to the fullest.”
And I am not calling for a religous test. Members of the LDS, or of Islam or of no faith should be able to run for President (heck, we let Dennis Kunich run for President, which says more about the greatness of our country than perhaps anything else). But understand that some of us may not vote for someone based on factors that are not strictly pocketbook, or foreign policy, or...whatever. If in my conscious I cannot vote for a Mormon presidential candidate for fear of it leading others astray, does not our Constitution give me the right to do so?
Anyways, it is going to be a tough choice. So far I would probably vote in order for Newt and then Romney of the possible Republican candidates (if I were to avoid any religous elements in my vote). And yes, I know that Newt has a very questionable personal life. But Newt does not risk the possibility of leading people into adultry and divorce (that is already way too mainstream). There is going to be a lot of discussion this next year or two about “The Mormon Question” and I know that Hugh is writing a book on the topic. I don’t know if Hugh is taking into account the concerns expressed here. But there are a lot of people (no, not the majority of Christians by any means) who are going to have to ask themselves this question. It will be an interesting challenge for all of us.
BTW, one of my favourite Mormon stories comes from the National Prayer Breakfast a couple of years ago. My boss heard Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) give a great quote at one of the events surronding the Prayer Breakfast, and was so taken with the quote he wrote it down and after the event broke up was talking to a Chuck Colson, and mentioned how much he liked that quote and that he was going to use it in the future. Chuck said, “Oh yea, its a great one...you do know that came from the Book of Mormon, don’t you.” To this day I have never heard my boss repeat that quote. Interesting…
