I have thought long and hard about the possibility of voting a Mormon into the office of 
President of the United States. Every candidate brings their own unique baggage and Mitt Romney is no different. But whether or not his religious convictions are actually “baggage” is another story. However, it appears many evangelical Christians think so.
Is it wrong that Christians hedge on Romney simply because he is a Mormon?
The L.A. Times, in an article entitled Evangelicals May Never Take Romney on Faith, chronicles the rub:
“I’m not sure it’s going to work for evangelical voters,” said Collin Hansen, editor-at-large at the evangelical monthly Christianity Today. “Pure and simple, there are very dramatic differences” between the Mormon faith and other Christian traditions. “People wonder, does he really believe that — and if so, can I really trust him?”
For more than a year, Romney and his strategists discussed the merits of giving a speech to formally address his faith. The matter grew more pressing in just the last two weeks, when Romney’s once-formidable lead in Iowa’s Republican caucuses evaporated as voters — especially conservative Christians — surged toward candidate Mike Huckabee, a onetime Baptist preacher. Huckabee also is gaining momentum in other states with early presidential contests.
So on Thursday morning, Romney stepped to the podium at the George Bush Presidential Library here to deliver an impassioned defense of religious liberties.
. . .”I am an American running for president,” he said. “I do not define my candidacy by my religion.”
Perhaps Romney does not define his candidacy by his religion, but defining his religion may, in the end, be his undoing.
For the record, I’d have no problem voting for Mitt Romney. Um, maybe I should make that “little problem.” Okay, I have a problem. It’s not big enough to keep me from actually voting for him, but knowing that this man believes that God was once a man who lived on the planet Kolob, who through perfect obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel (that is, the Mormon gospel), became a god and now rules over planet earth in a universe populated by many ascended gods (that is, fellow Mormon deities), is a bit weird. Sure, other presidents have believed some strange things (see: Jimmy Carter). But the straight facts about Mormonism, when you can actually get to them, are indeed startling to the average person.
This shouldn’t produce smugness on the part of Christians because we believe some awfully weird things too. Things like talking serpents and flying chariots and guys who 
walk on water populate the Bible. So when it comes to “bizarre beliefs” Christians aren’t exactly under the radar.
Either way, the conversation has illuminated an intentionally obscured fact: All religions ARE NOT the same. It’s beyond me how anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of world religions can believe that all faiths are equal. Nevertheless, our multicultural mindframe has duped us into believing that Christians and Mormons and Buddhists and Urantians are one big happy family. The backlash against Mitt Romney is illustrating an essential conviction of evangelical Christians — some beliefs are just plain false.
But hey, I’m not voting for a pastor or a theologian — I’m voting for a leader. And it appears Romney has those qualifications. It’s just that knowing he believes Jesus and Lucifer were once spirit brothers is a bit disconcerting.
It’s a huge problem for Romney. That’s why Huckabee is surging.
I do think that if Romney gets the nomination, Christians will vote for Romney over Clinton. They’ll claim the lesser of two evils argument.
Personally, I wonder if Romney is devout when it comes to mormonism. Maybe he was born into it and only likes the choir and basically believes the same things a non-devout Catholic or Baptist believes. I was once an unoffcial associate youth pastor for a pentecostal church and I’m not pentecostal. It didn’t matter to me at the time, we agreed on most things.
Romney can’t say this of course. His only recourse is to do what he did. Publicly state the beliefs that he shares with mainstream Christians. He has to kind of wink at them when the Mormons ain’t looking.
I would characterize my reservations about him exactly as you did. Well put.
Wait . . . does this mean we actually agree on something?
I have been playing the “lesser of two evils” game more than I would care to admit. I think all leaders let their faith or lack of faith motivate their choices. Bill Clinton is a Baptist. That didn’t make him a “Christian” president. Clearly, his choices and integrity issues frequently did not follow God’s Word. George Bush is Methodist that doesn’t make him an effective President. If my choice is between a man named Mitt (A choice I questioned until I found out his birth name is Willard) and a Democrat, I’m going to see how the two candidates stand on issues that are important to me, abortion being only one of them.
Google says that there are 5.5 million Mormons in the USA. I know he’ll be getting at least that many votes.
Hey, this is a good topic, why not bring this up at the family dinner at the Durans?
Dayle said, “Personally, I wonder if Romney is devout when it comes to mormonism.” Actually, at this level of politics, I have a hard time believing any of the candidates are devout about anything other than their own ambition and big donors.
I know it’s cynical, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not detecting much sincerity from the current group of candidates. The majority seem like more politics-as-usual.
As a Christian, ideally I’d like to elect someone whose worldview matches my own. Failing that, I have to search for the candidate whose beliefs and ideas on various issues come the closest. Failing that, we get to the lesser-of-two-evils route. I have never skipped an election, because I believe it’s our duty to vote.
So, for me, Romney’s Mormonism is a concern, but not quite a deal-breaker yet. We’ll see how it all shakes out.