When I heard the latest media circus created in response to key Perry supporter Pastor Robert Jeffries’ comments at the America Family Values Summit in Washington, D.C., that Mitt Romney belonged to a “cult” because he is Mormon, I thought both really and here we go again?!? The attack was made against Mitt Romney but fellow GOP candidate Jon Huntsman is also Mormon and so is Glenn Beck, who was one of the other speakers at the event, who along with historian and Founder of Wallbuilders, David Barton, has been instrumental in resurrecting the Black Robe Regiment, made up of religious leaders of all faiths.
I am a Christian who throughout my life has had many Mormon friends and business associates but I don’t have a personal dog in this hunt. But it bothered me. Mitt Romney is also not my first choice for our party’s standard bearer, but he is not my last either and I will vote for whomever the GOP nominates because any of them will be better than the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Just as I started doing a little research for my article I received the following titled: the Mormon Thing…
Article VI, U.S. Constitution: “…No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
First things first—I know very little about the Mormon faith system and, frankly, I don’t care. I may or may not have friends who are Mormon, but since I don’t ask and don’t select my friends on the basis of their religion, I don’t know if they are or not.
The simple fact is that virtually any religion you can name has aspects that seem odd to those not born into it, cause others to drop out of it, and provide rich material for those who mock all religion. I personally feel more secure around people who have a religion—any religion—than around those who have none, but that’s just me.
So when the media, as usual, seized upon some obscure Texas pastor’s comments about the Mormon Church as a “cult” after he introduced the hapless Gov. Rick Perry at some event, the whole Mormon thing raised its ugly head again as various members of the chatteratti and various ink-stained wretches tried to raise the issue of Mitt Romney’s religion. It is also Jon Huntsman’s religion.
The question, generally stated, is whether Romney could be a good President as a Mormon? It is an idiotic question, the kind that was raised back in the 1960s when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for office. For my part, I would take Romney any day over the present occupant of the Oval Office who claims to have been a parishioner and close friend of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a racist and America-basher of the first order.
For deep dish conservatives concerned about Mormons serving in the White House, Stephen M. Studdert, a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, recalled that he “truly admired the Latter-day Saints. His administration included more members of the Church than any other American president ever.”
Among those close to Reagan during his eight years as the greatest president of the modern era was Richard Wirthlin, his chief strategist. Terrel Bell served as Reagan’s Secretary of Education, Angela Buchanan was Secretary of the Treasury, and Rex Lee was Solicitor General.
Reagan’s White House included Jon Huntsman, Jr., currently a former governor of Utah and a candidate for the GOP nomination. The national security advisor to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, is now an elder statesman. Suffice to say there were many others. No one recalls that any those Mormons served with anything other than dedication and patriotism.
Still scared of Mormons? Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah was first elected to the Senate in 1992. John Doolittle formerly represented California’s 4th Congressional District. Jeff Flake represents Arizona’s 6th District. Mike Crapo is a Senator from Idaho. A former Senator from Utah, Jake Garn, has previously been an astronaut. Anyone caring enough to check will find many other Mormons who have honorably served in Congress.
One of the most respected members of the Senate is Orrin Hatch of Utah, a Republican. Indeed, all the Congress critters named to this point have been Republicans, but the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat, is also a Mormon.
You can even go back to Eisenhower’s administration and find that Ezra Taft Bensen served as Ike’s Secretary of Agriculture for both terms.
History buffs will tell you that Leroy Eldridge Cleaver who, after a past that included thirteen years as a guest of the California penitentiary system for narcotics possession and assault, became the face in the 1960s of the Black Power movement. After renouncing the movement, Cleaver joined the Church of the Latter-day saints in the 1970s. And, yes, God does work in marvelous ways.
All of this is to say that, despite the misgivings of some Texas pastor and others, Mormons have an admirable record of serving their nation and doubtless, if elected, former Gov. Mitt Romney will do so as well.
By Alan Caruba © Alan Caruba, 2011 – Posted at the Tea Party Nation
One of the most amazing things is that in 1968 when George Romney, Mitt’s dad, ran for President and people knew much less about the Mormon religion and probably feared it more, the Mormon issue never came up. I heard Karl Rove mention that as well in an interview. His take on it was that again it is the biased secular liberal media who is against anyone on the right, religion in general and the Conservative take on the Constitution, that is raising and over-reporting this issue.
I, unlike Alan Caruba, do know which of my friends were and are Mormons but like Alan I still don’t know much more about the inter-workings or beliefs of the Mormon or LDS Church that are different from other Christian sects and don’t particularly care, at least not for this purpose.
What I do know is that every last one of the Mormon people I know are great hard working patriotic people who love America, family, God and their church. They are terrific helpful friends and are devoted to their families. And as a group they raise the best kids on the planet in these modern times, Kids who are almost always polite, well-mannered, ambitious and who are also involved with their families, church and school and are proud of and willing to server America. So what is wrong with that?
We have a guy in the White House now who attended a church for 20-years founded in Liberation Theology rooted in Islam whose pastor hates America. And Obama’s religious background and allegiance before that is pretty questionable or vague like everything else about his past. He also has surrounded himself with people who are self-avowed Marxists, Communists and Progressives that want to fundamentally change everything about America.
So looking at this and all the problems we have as a country I have to ask, “Really? We are worried about a Mormon in the White House?”.
By Marion Algier
Related:
Perry Practicing, Polishing For Debates - Perry’s strategy for winning the GOP primary is focused on highlighting the Texas economy, vilifying Romney as a wealthy Mormon elitist (which is pretty amazing when start looking into Perry’s friends, associates and supporters) and painting himself as the honest straightforward “everyman.” I personally think looking at this whole situation of the past week unfold, it is Perry that comes out looking like the small un-relatable bad guy!
Note from a friend of mine who emailed me after reading my article and said, “I just watched Dancing with the Stars where Dereck and Julianne Hough (a Mormon brother and sister who are part of their expert dance team) danced in an expose as Donny Osmond, of Donny and Marie (both former DWTS winners or finalists) and the Osmonds was sitting out in the audience. I then flashed on them (wholesome, cute, energetic and ambitious) after looking at some of the liberals sitting in the audience and performing and reflecting on a lot of the people in Washington and thought… “Yup we could do a lot worse than a Mormon in the White House if that is the deciding issue”.
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