Will Mitt Romney be a Mormon JFK?

Posted by admin on Feb 18, 2012 in Romney's Politics | 0 comments

An Editorial by Mel.

With the presidential elections quickly approaching, many Evangelicals are sincerely concerned that Mitt Romney, a Mormon (member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) could conceivably get the nomination for the GOP, and that if he were to beat Obama, he could become the next President of the United States.

This is a scary thought for them because most Evangelicals reject the possibility that Mormons are Christian and assert that Mormonism is a cult. Then the country would be lead by a Cult member directly from the White House. Richard J. Mouw is president of the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He recently wrote an editorial (November 20, 2011) for the Los Angeles Times. In his editorial he points out that most modern religious scholars have long since abandoned the use of the “cult label” when describing Mormonism.

Mormons are now said to be about 14 million strong, and probably less than half now live in the United States. The LDS Church has made progress in moving forward into the mainstream of the American consciousness , much to the dismay of their Protestant brothers and sisters who have consistently rejected them and their religion since the inception of Mormonism in the 1830’s. Now some Mormons make up an unusual group of business leaders, world class academics, politicians, novelists, and writers of best selling leadership manuals, who actually believe that gospel and apply its teachings.

Rather, Mormons genuinely believe that gospel teachings show a profound respect for others and merit a place in whatever activities they are engaged. For many it is a Mormon version of WWJD. (What would Jesus do?) Obviously, the Mormon WWJD has gained traction and seems to be embraced by even those who are not of the Mormon faith, who share similar values and believe it is just the right thing to do.

Mouw has come under a fury of disbelief and received torrents of hate mail, because many Evangelicals now wonder if he is a traitor, or at least incredibly misguided, especially for being the president of the largest evangelical theological graduate school in the world. Protestants and Evangelicals assert the theory of “Sola escritura” (only scripture establishes doctrine and authority). This was the belief that Martin Luther, the storied impetus for the protestant movement, adopted. The Evangelicals were a breakaway group from the Protestants dating from the 1730’s England, and were quite popular in America when Mormonism was in its infancy in the early 1800’s. Mouw points out the historical perspective of antagonism between Mormons in the 19th century.

Joseph Smith (first prophet of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ) said, and he had it on divine authority, that the professions of faith of the historical churches we an “abomination.” Evangelical Christians responded that Mormonism was Satan-inspired and have sought at every turn to invalidate Mormonism altogether. Catholic and Orthodox Christians do not subscribe to the Sola escritura theory, and neither do Mormons. Catholics and Orthodox churches believe in a duality between scripture and tradition and Mormons, of course have several books of accepted canonized scripture including the Book of Mormon, plus the authority of living prophets.

Mouw believes that “We evangelicals should cast aside old suspicions and hostilities and listen carefully during this campaign. I believe we should make our voting decisions on the basis of what a Mormon candidate— or any candidate—actually has to say about the values and issues we all care about as citizens.”

From my perspective it is interesting that our protestant forefathers left Europe to avoid persecution. Mormons left the United States to Mexico Territory in the west to avoid further prosecution in the times of Smith and Young, but ultimately ended up back in the United States after the Mexican American War, when the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1849. Later Mormons were persecuted by the US government for polygamy right up until WW1.

The Lead-up to the Election of John F. Kennedy and the Presidential Election of 2012

There are parallels between the political situation today and that which existed in the 1920′s-up and until the Election of John F. Kennedy as president of the United States. From that period Catholics were perceived as public enemies. The public and the US government believed that the Knights of Columbus were gathering and stockpiling weapons in anticipation of a papal order to overthrow the US government and quite literally take over the country.

During that tumultuous time many Catholic politicians were declared unfit for public office and quite literally thrown out of government offices and service. The FBI and police organizations served thousands of search warrants at Catholic churches, convents and monasteries, Catholic schools and rectories, all in search of the imaginary weapon stockpiles of the Knights of Columbus. Never mind the constitutional issues, anti-Catholic sentiment ran high, and many Catholics suffered the consequences (Sharon Davies, Rising Road: a True Tale of Love, Race and Religion in America).

Mormons seem to be perceived today as a radical, non-Christian, cult-like group, lurking in the shadows, owing their loyalty, not to America, but to their homegrown religion “Mormonism.” They are often perceived as a threat to America, when in fact, they are among America’s best citizens, completely loyal to their country. Sound familiar?

Ironically, no one denies Mormons the right to worship as they please, but good Evangelicals and hence “good Americans” feel compelled to curb and prevent Mitt Romney, the “Mormon Menace” from getting the Republican nomination to run for the Presidency of the United States. The opposition to Catholicism experienced in the 1920′s until the election of Kennedy was a mainstream movement, not just fringe and crazies . Just as with Catholics then, today Mormons essentially fill the same bill.
If Mitt Romney manages to get the GOP nomination and runs for the Presidency, is elected, and successful, only then will the tide of anti-Mormon fervor subside. Until that time, if it ever comes, it will probably only get uglier.

Mel Borup Chandler lives in southern California and sometimes writes as a contributor for the Deseret News. Mel partially grew up in the Deep South in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in the 1960’s.