Is Religion Relevant?
Submitted by the always irreverent TR
There has been a lot of hullabaloo recently about whether Romney’s religion is relevant to this election. Most recently because some preacher caused a stir by calling Mormonism a cult.
Funny how Republicans all thought the church Obama attended was relevant. The Democrats have no problem raising Perry’s religious beliefs about creation. Let’s sweep away the hypocrisy and rank political correctness and ask a general question, “Are a persons religious beliefs fair game in an election”?
Of course they are and anyone who says otherwise is a damn liar. If someone is a Muslim of the Wahhabi sect or Salafi( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi) sect that is not going to play into whether you vote for them? What about if they belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Later day Saints that practices polygamy and child bride marriage or if they are scientologists a group that has been accused of being a cult and of engaging in criminal enterprises, does that matter? Then there are Santeria voodoo worshipping chicken sarificers and pot smoking Rastafarians and white supremacy churches, what about them?
Look me in the eye and say none of that matters.
Of course it matters. It matters because nothing tells you more about a person then their religious belief system.
Of course we don’t have religious tests for office and we have freedom of religion but it is a false dichotomy to suggest that this means we cannot as individuals question a person who will represent us about their belief system and use it to make an individual choice as to who to vote for.
For those who vilify anyone who questions Romney’s religious beliefs I ask this. Do you know anything about Mormonism, its tenets, its history? No well maybe you should before you make a decision. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying his religion disqualifies him. I am saying that questions about his religion and his beliefs and those of every single candidate are fair game. This is not a call for sectarianism. This is recognition that what we believe is important. I am claiming there is nothing wrong with saying I am not voting for John Candidate because I do not like his religious beliefs. I say that because those beliefs are integral to who that candidate is and how he think or she thinks. If you don’t like who they are you should not vote for them.
Let’s stop playing” the religion is not fair game” card and “it is a private matter” card. If you want to be a candidate defend your belief system. Tell us why it makes you a better person, a better leader or maybe you say I am a nominal whatever and it does not play a large part in my life. That says something about you too. Some voters will hate it and some will love it but at least we will all have a better idea of who you really are.
Posted: October 14th, 2011 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Presidential Politics, Mitt Romney | Tags: Mitt Romney, Mormonism, TR | 17 Comments »