Romney Family Photo
They’re at it again. While Googling for articles today, I came across this fresh group of stories pertaining to Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith:
This is the way I look at it: I want the best possible candidate to lead this nation. I want someone who believes in the principles of our Forefathers; someone who has the ability, experience, and knowledge to bring our nation back to greatness. This person’s particular theology is really an afterthought for me. I put more weight in a person’s family values and how he or she conducts their life.
As a Roman Catholic and Pro-Lifer myself, I believe most Evangelicals and Fundamentalist Christians feel the same way I do. Sure there are fringe elements of every group — those that will spread lies and put all sorts of misinformation out there about good people such as Governor Romney, merely because he is a Mormon. They’ll dress up the hatred for his religion by attacking him on an old forsaken pro-choice stance and how they believe Romneycare supplies cheap abortions. They’ll never tell you the whole truth, just what they want you to believe. Anything to keep the Mormon out of the White House. But again, they are in the minority.
Nobody explains better, especially from a non-Mormon perspective, why this country needs a Romney presidency than our friends at Evangelicals for Mitt. From their site, the reasons that they (and their large Evangelical network) support Mitt Romney:
We want a candidate who shares our political and moral values and priorities, can win in 2012, and can govern effectively thereafter by articulating and implementing an intelligent, values-based governing strategy. This is just what Mitt Romney did as governor, this is just what Mitt Romney did in business, and this is what he would do as president.
Governor Romney Shares Our Political & Moral Values
Political and moral values are informed by — but not the same as — one’s religion. That’s why we are not casting our lot with the person whose theology we like most. History shows that to be a poor approach.
For example, in 1980 voters had two choices: a divorced movie actor who did not regularly attend church and was not on good terms with all of his children, and a once-married Southern Baptist whose evangelicalism was at the core of his public identity. Voting on the basis of whose religious doctrine was better would have meant electing the second guy — Jimmy Carter — over the first, Ronald Reagan. Excluding those who don’t hold to orthodox Christianity would also have meant excluding such great Americans as Thomas Jefferson — who denied the divinity of Christ — from positions of authority. But Is anybody going to argue someone else should’ve written the Declaration of Independence?
We need a president who embraces a comprehensive and positive values agenda: standing for the sanctity of life, protecting traditional marriage, defending religious liberty and basic human rights at home and abroad, combating poverty and disease within the world’s poorest communities, fighting for better quality of life for our citizens, and winning the War on Terror.
We need a president who has the right economic values. We too often place the economy and culture in completely separate spheres, content to worry about “social issues” when (and only when) our paychecks are secure. This is exactly the wrong approach. Governor Romney understands that the health of the economy and the health of the family are inextricably intertwined. There can be no long-term prosperity without healthy families, and it is a profound moral problem when we pay for the sins of the present by bankrupting our children
Governor Romney Can Unite the Conservative Movement and Forge a Winning Coalition
If the debacle of 2008 taught us anything, it’s that you cannot abandon the base and win an election. We must unite fiscal and social conservatives within the same tent. We cannot argue over which of the self-described “wings” of the party are most crucial. At its best, the Republican coalition combines a fierce commitment to national security, sound economic conservatism that is responsive to changing economic conditions, and an abiding commitment to life and the family. When this coalition breaks down, when any one of the three “legs” of the stool break, we lose. And lose big. In 2008 we nominated a national security conservative who knew very little about the economy (and was dangerously prone to ineffectual bouts of populist outrage), seemed to enjoy skewering fellow Republicans, and held many religious voters in near-contempt. In the next primary season, we must choose better.
But there’s more than that. Above all else, the president has to lead — he has to be a good executive. Fortunately, Governor Romney has been a leader longer than he has been a politician. Prior to his political career, Governor Romney helped to launch the very successful Bain Capital — which helped launch such successful franchises as Staples and the Sports Authority — and then led a turnaround at Bain Consulting. He also saved the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City which, prior to his leadership, were mired in debt and corruption but subsequently became one of the most successfully-run Games in memory.
And he’s governed in a difficult political environment, too. Massachusetts is the most left-wing state in the union. If you think Bay State Democrats aren’t any different from their Arkansas or Alabama or Tennessee counterparts, try defending traditional marriage or vetoing stem-cell funding up in Boston, as Governor Romney did, and see what they do. But Governor Romney did — in addition to helping turn the economy around, opposing driver’s licenses and in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants, and defending Catholic Charities’ right to restrict adoptions to man-woman couples. No other candidate has a record of such successful, across-the-board conservative leadership—especially on such hostile terrain.
Summing It All Up
Mitt Romney has been a standout conservative governor of a very liberal state. He believes in the traditional family, and he has fought for it — just ask Massachusetts’ pro-family leaders. He’s admitted he was wrong on abortion, and is now solidly pro-life — as his record in Massachusetts testifies. He also opposes embryonic stem cell research’s speculative and open-ended carelessness with human life. He’s shown courage under fire in several challenging situations, and has lived out his values (both publicly and privately) during a time when other Republicans, sadly, have not.
In addition, we challenge our readers — friendly or hostile — to name one national political leader on either side of the aisle with a better record of business and economic leadership than Mitt Romney. We do not know what the economy will be like in 2012, but if it’s anything like it is today, who would you want at the helm? The former community organizer we have today? Or the founder of Bain Capital, the man who rescued the Salt Lake City Olympics, and the Governor who brought a state back from the brink of bankruptcy?
In other words, he’s not just a man evangelicals can support — he’s the best choice for people of faith. It’s not even close.
A couple of videos that give insight into Romney and his faith…
This video includes his early years as missionary in France:
Mitt Romney on Faith In America (part 1):
Mitt Romney on Faith In America (part 2):
I wonder if our Forefathers were around today, which would they judge a person by, his particular religion or his character?
“Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.” ~George Washington, Letter, United Baptist Chamber of Virginia May 1789
-BOSMAN
In the words of Solzhenitsyn:
“In recent years the major Christian churches have taken steps toward reconciliation. But these measures are far too slow; the world is perishing a hundred times more quickly. No one expects the churches to merge or to revise all their doctrines, but only to present a common front against atheism. Yet even for such a purpose the steps taken are much too slow”.
I would replace “common front against atheism” with “common front against the spread of radical Islam”.
This is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Chrisitan values rooted way back in western civilization. The multi-culturalists are hacking away at western civilization bit by bit.
Has Governor Romney come around on supporting the Human Life Amendment, and I missed hearing about this? Romney’s stance on abortion is not acceptable to practicing Roman Catholics in full communion with the church.
http://race42012.com/2007/11/16/mitt-romney-on-human-life-amendment-3-06-2007/
Calling oneself “pro-life” and actually meaning it involves more than just overturning Roe v. Wade. In this clip, Mitt actually says it would be fine with him if a state that wanted to be pro-choice, was pro-choice. This is not the Church’s position on abortion.
I hate to say it, but Huckabee comes much closer to the Catholic position on abortion than Mitt does. And I thought Mormons were strong social conservatives…maybe I’m wrong.
@Matt
i keep on reiterating this idea: it is imperative to get a man like Mitt in the white house becasue of his ability to lead. if we nit pick our best candidates eventually a great man who is THE best choice in 2012 is going to seem lack luster. and then guess what? 4 more years of Obama. IF your ideas on abortion do not follow directly with mitts, then i implore you to send him an email and talk to him about it. its a new age of communication, candidates cant just lock themselves away and be successful. sure there might be specific details that are a turn off, but look at the man as a whole. =D lets go get the WH in 2012!
I smell a bigot. Matt, tell me I’m wrong?
Look Matt, on a federal amendment to protect traditional marriage, Romney was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee before many ever heard of Mitt Romney and well before the idea of a constitutional amendment was seen as the only way to protect a nation from rogue judges in various states. His record on fighting to preserve the traditional definition of marriage is strong. He has been in the trenches on this.
http://classjump.com/mrcilker/documents/Unit%207%20-%20Mitt%20Romney%20-%20Defending%20Traditional%20Marriage.pdf
We need somebody to get in there and clean up the corruption and point us on the right path. Mitt Romney can and will do that.
You’ve got to face up to the fact that Huckabee isn’t going to win the nomination. He has sold out to corporate interests, aka Murdoch. I want somebody who can walk in the shoes of Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan.
Today’s Republicans are good at challenging Big Government and Big Labor, but what ever happened to their being willing to challenge Big Business when its wrong? Not only that, but it appears the Republican party has been hijacked by the libertarians. What would happen to our civilization if nobody paid for anything and everybody did just whatever they wanted to do? We’d have chaos, that’s what. There are other issues that are important also.
No bigot here, Robert.
Actually, after posting my comment I re-read it and realized that there was no need to bring any discussion of Mormons into it. I think I was playing off of the title of this post which mentions another religion – but still, I didn’t need to put that, because I realize how I sounds and I have no problem with Mormons or voting for a Mormon.
However, I still maintain that most of the Mormons I know seem to be very conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage – just like most evangelical Protestants and Catholics that I know in a state like South Carolina. So it does make some wonder why Mitt would have ever been “effectively pro-choice”. Well, I pretty much know the answer – but it’s not anything to do with Mormons. There are plenty of blue state Catholic politicians that are pro-choice as well – while being “personally pro-life”.
@Matt You’re exactly right, Matt.
I think that Mitt was always “personally pro-life”, but merely changed his viewpoint as to what the government’s role should be in allowing/prohibiting abortion (and varying types of stem cell research). There are, by the way, plenty of liberal-leaning Mormons that believe in respecting one’s “agency” or right to choose their own path in life; they are living according to church standard so long as they don’t aid or participate in an actual abortion.
[A little known fact: Romney was actually a lay pastor (Bishop and Stake President w/ no monitary compensation) in his church for a longer period of time than Huckabee was in his church... he definitely knows what flies and what doesn't in the Mormon faith]
It is important to note, that while he campaigned “effectively pro-choice” for a MA senate seat in mid 90′s, nearly a full decade had passed before he was ever put into the hot seat as Governor. And as Governor, he came down on the side of life in every case he was presented with — keeping with his campaign promise to not alter the current laws that the people of the state had established — and at the same time, not doing anything to advance the cause of abortion.
I found an informative page on this site that goes along with this topic: http://mittromneycentral.com/on-the-issues/abortion-stem-cell-research/
-Tommy
I knew Mitt when he was still a young teenager; I also knew his Dad, one of the greatest men I ever knew. Mitt is his father’s son, following in his footsteps. His Dad was the first President I had “over me” when I became a member of the LDS Church in 1959. You TRUST Mitt, eyes closed if you want. When years ago George was a candidate for the White House, he had at first refused to do it, saying he was too honest; his supporters said: That’s just WHY you should. . Same goes for Mitt.
I trust Romney.
Our Man Mitt!
Diehard Catholics support you and trust you.
Jesus said this: by their fruits you shall know them. Look at his family, his stellar business acumen and his incredible achievements in financial turn arounds. This is a time for choosing, someone Reaganesque with character like Mitt Romney or another 4 yearsof Jimmy Carter on steroids.
No more mister nice guy Mitt, you must unseat this $4 dollar a gallon ineffectual liberal President, drill for oil and natural gas in America, rein in the debt and set America back on course fiscally and morally.
GO Mitt Go!!
It surprising how some people forget that Harry Reid is also a Latter-Day Saint (a.ka. Mormon). I have yet to see a news article stating that Sen. Reid is not capable of filling his duties as the Senate Majority leader because of his faith. (But that might be more a comment on the current media than either politician.)
While I strongly object to the policies forwarded by Sen. Reid and fully support Gov. Romney in his run for the presidency, I’d be willing to sit on the pew with both of them during Sacrament Meeting.
As with all religions, being a Latter-Day Saint may give you a hint at a person’s background and belief system, it is not definitive end-all answer.
Romney first came to my attention because he was a member of my church, and, finding a seemingly astute man with no fatal differences with my politics, I admit to preferring him for those facts alone. After seeing again the realities of partisanship in 2008, and since Obama, the “religion” issue that helped, hurt, and defined Romney so much has virtually faded away, for me. There’s simply too much ground liable to be lost in the crucial issues of this country and world to spend any more concern on ‘whom’ a candidate is instead of ‘what’ he is, and what he can do.
Romney will not “save” America, except possibly in certain ways for a temporary duration. Reagan didn’t “save” America, not permanently. Only American communities, families, and people, particularly each young generation, will save, or destroy, this country with the aggregate of their own selflessness, or selfishness. Romney, if we have the sense to elect him, will last 8 years at the most, and long after he’s gone, the merits of his chosen religion will still be propounded, questioned, debated, and even derided across the earth. Mitt Romney, whether he rise or fall now, in the end solves no great religious puzzle.
What he just may solve are the puzzles of 2012, and this decade — the issues we’re swimming against today, which above all involve the domestic and global economy, and the place of American values at home and in a maturing international community. In office, Romney would have the policy capital, the human capital, to adroitly represent unbiased conservatives, embrace many independents, and encourage the tractable within liberalism. His decency could help temper the zeal of extremists; his conviction can enthuse and enflame cautious moderates. He would also certainly have his full portion of critics.
If I preferred Brother Romney once for his religion, I prefer Governor Romney, Businessman Romney, and Candidate Romney today because of his ability and character as a leader. This hour of history now before us will pass in to memory, and then out of memory, along with its particular troubles; but until it does, Mitt Romney is the quintessential “man of the hour”.
LDS is against gambling and state lotteries. That’s a definite plus for me.
We know people by their fruits and I can’t think of a finer person to vote for than Mitt Romney. His wife and family are pretty wonderful, too. I would be so proud to call him Mr. President… and relieved.