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The Christian Science Monitor - August 09, 2007
Mitt Romney: proudly, quietly Mormon
The former governor of Massachusetts is a Mormon in full.
But, facing a wary public, he has played his faith
cautiously on the presidential campaign trail.
By Linda Feldmann
Successful businessman, rescuer of the scandal-marred 2002 Olympics, governor of Massachusetts. The highlights of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's résumé are well known. But there's a fourth point that he does not advertise in his stump speech: 12 years in top leadership positions in the Boston-area Mormon community.
For three years, from 1982 to 1985, Mr. Romney served as the bishop, or lay pastor, at his church in Belmont, Mass. After that, he served nine years as "stake" president, overseeing about a dozen Boston-area parishes. But it was his time as bishop that gave him the most contact with everyday churchgoers. He organized weekly church services and ministered to parishioners, offering spiritual guidance on whatever problems they brought to him – financial, marital, physical, anything. He heard confessions of sin and determined who is allowed to enter a Mormon temple, a privilege reserved for those who meet the church's high standards of personal conduct. He distributed church funds to those in need…..
Easing public concern: That Romney's Mormon faith infuses his life and informs his approach to public service is evident. But at this unusually religion-focused time in politics, the irony is that Romney has had to be more cautious than most presidential candidates in how he discusses his faith. Public wariness toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the Mormon Church's official name, remains deep-seated. Polls continue to show that a sizable portion of the electorate – 27 percent, Newsweek found in July – would not vote for a Mormon for president. Among GOP primary voters, the numbers get even more daunting: A February poll by the Pew Research Center found that 40 percent of white evangelical Protestants, most of whom are Republicans, would be "less likely" to support a Mormon for president.
One other issue poses as significant a hurdle to Romney in his quest for the nomination: his switch to conservative positions on social issues, including abortion and stem-cell research. Some conservatives remain skeptical over the timing of his conversion, coming as it did after he had won the governorship of liberal Massachusetts and began laying the groundwork for a presidential run.
But it's the Mormon issue that could turn ugly for Romney. Already, anti-Mormon incidents have sprung up out of rival GOP presidential campaigns. In a few instances, voters themselves have confronted Romney with hostile questions. One, captured on a video posted on YouTube, refused to shake his hand…..
Romney is keenly aware of this fact and has organized "faith and values steering committees" – one national, several statewide – made up of prominent supporters from a range of faiths. The committees advise the campaign on values-related issues and grass-roots outreach………..
Many Protestants and Roman Catholics do not recognize Mormons as Christian because the church does not adhere to the common view of the Holy Trinity. The Mormon Church, instead, sees God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost as three separate beings – God and Jesus having human form – who collectively make up the Godhead.
Another objection is to the church's use of additional scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon. Richard John Neuhaus, a prominent conservative Catholic priest, calls Mormonism "a false religion." The Southern Baptist Convention instructs its members to view Mormonism as a cult.
In addition, Mormons' past practice of polygamy – disavowed by the church in 1890 – and the HBO series "Big Love," which features a modern-day polygamous family in Utah, do Romney no favors. Ditto Romney's own well-known ancestral history of polygamy. Mormons' successful efforts to win converts also make evangelical Christians uncomfortable, even as the LDS Church loses members to evangelical proselytizing. Some non-Mormons worry that a President Romney would be the ultimate missionary, making the church more attractive worldwide.
This fall, an independently produced documentary called "A Mormon President" – examining the history of church founder Joseph Smith's presidential campaign – will bring yet more attention to politics and Mormonism…..
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0809/p01s01-uspo.html
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