COLLEGE STATION, Texas (ABP) — People of faith who value religious liberty “have a friend and an ally in me,” but promoters of the “religion of secularism” who want to strip religious references from the public square do not, said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in a much-anticipated speech on his faith Dec. 6.
However, the GOP presidential contender and Mormon did not address some voters' specific concerns about his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Romney spoke to invited guests at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. The venue is less than 100 miles from Houston, where John F. Kennedy spoke to Baptist ministers in 1960 to assure them his Roman Catholic faith would not unduly influence his decisions as president.
Romney alluded to Kennedy's famous speech. “Almost 50 years ago, another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president — not a Catholic running for president,” Romney said.
“Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith.”
Like Kennedy, Romney asserted his belief in the institutional separation of church and state. He insisted he would not allow the LDS Church authority to exert influence over presidential decisions, and he would not put any church doctrine above presidential duties.
“If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States,” he said.
However, Romney refused to disavow any of his Mormon beliefs, even though many evangelicals characterize the faith as a cult.
“I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs,” he said. He added that if his personal beliefs damage his presidential hopes, “so be it.”
Noting that the Constitution allows no religious test for public office, Romney said, disavowing Mormonism would actually be proof that he isn't qualified to be president. The American people rightly would question his character, he said, if he turned his back on his personal beliefs to advance his candidacy.
“Americans do not respect believers of convenience,” Romney declared.
He specifically affirmed his belief in Jesus Christ as “the Son of God and the savior of mankind,” but he declined to address the specific doctrines of Mormonism that distinguish it from mainstream Christianity.
“Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree,” he said.
“There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church's distinctive doctrines,” Romney continued. “To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For, if he becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.”
Adherents of all major religions “share a common creed of moral convictions,” he said.
While Romney stressed that religious liberty is “fundamental to America's greatness,” he affirmed public displays of civic piety such as references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and on currency. He also expressed approval for religious holiday displays on public property, such as Nativity scenes at Christmas and menorahs at Hanukkah.
Romney also lauded American religious diversity. The United States benefits from a moral and philosophical heritage drawn from multiple sources — “our nation's symphony of faith,” he called it.
Nonetheless, he did claim that the nation's founding principles stem from a specific religious heritage.
“Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our Constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from ‘the God who gave us liberty,'” he said.
Some people have carried separation of church and state too far by seeking to have any reference to America's religious heritage or its dependence on God removed from public life, Romney claimed.
“It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America — the religion of secularism. They are wrong,” he said.
“Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together or perish alone.”
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