Dec 2, 2007

Romney's religion speech

As Jeff mentions below, Romney is going to address questions about his faith!
 
People kept asking Romney when he was going to address his faith. Well stop the presses, but he already has. Here are just a few of the questions Romney has been asked about his religion. Just click on the question to see his answer to the question.
 
I just don't think the news media has done a good job. They keep telling people Romney has not addressed questions about his religion, but the media should be smart enough to organize and present the responses that Romney has already given... Unfortunately the media would have to "inform" or "educate" the public, in order for that to happen, so don't count on it.

  1. 1st Debate
    1. What do you say to bishops who deny Communion to elected officials who support abortion rights?
    2. Do you accept Huckabee's statement that he wasn't talking about you ?
  2. Mike Allen
    1. Why are key tenets of your faith still misunderstood ?
  3. How is your church so successful in getting its young people to follow its teachings ?
  4. Brian Lamb
    1. Who was Brigham Young?
    2. Well, if you go back -- and I found the name Pratt in your background who was some circuitous route related to Joseph Smith who was one of the founders of Mormonism .
    3. Are you prepared to deal with attacks on your religion ?
    4. Do you have an evangelical problem?
    5. Has there been a mood change in the country about the importance of talking about religion ?
    6. One place that I found that you almost died (His Mission)
  5. Wolf Blitzer
    1. How do you deal with the fact that you are a Mormon ?
  6. Robert B Bluey
    1. Are you prepared to deal with what is bound to be attacks from the media and opponents about your religious faith ?
  7. Wolf Blitzer
    1. Will evangelicals support a Mormon?
  8. Hugh Hewitt
    1. Does the country know enough about radical Islam ?
    2. Do you stand by your use of the word Islamic-fascism ?
    3. How many times are you going to have to ask and answer these questions ?
  9. Jay Leno
    1. Is their enough diversity within the Mormon Church ?
  10. Katherine Jean Lopez
    1. Will an exposé on Mormon Christmas celebrations hurt you in the primaries ?
  11. George Stephanopoulos
    1. How does your faith inform your politics?
  12. Chris Wallace
    1. Are you a cultist?
  13. 3rd Debate
    1. What would you like to say to the voters about your faith ?
Probably the most famous piece of news about Romney's religion was this Jan Mickelson video.
 
Ann Romney has said; "I don't like all the emphasis that's being put on it, because I see it as being a little unfair. He is a man of faith and he has amazing principles. He's a good father and husband. I'd like them to look at the measure of the man and stop focusing so much just on his faith."
For background into Romney's beliefs you might want to check out actual press releases about Religion from while he was Governor.

Governor Mitt Romney and Religion Press Releases

2007

2006

  • 03-10-2006, DEFENDING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, ROMNEY TO FILE BILL EXEMPTING RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS FROM GAY ADOPTION REQUIREMENT

2005

  • 06-28-2005, ROMNEY VOICES SUPPORT FOR FAITH-BASED PROGRAMS

2004

  • 08-10- 2004 , ROMNEY, MENINO CELEBRATE INTERFAITH APARTMENTS OPENING

In The News

Facts:

  • In Massachusetts Romney signed laws allowing stores to sell alcohol on Sundays, even though he was prohibited by his faith from drinking.
  • In Massachusetts Romney signed laws that expand the state lottery, though Mormons are forbidden to gamble.

Quetes

  • "There's no church-directed view. How can you have Harry Reid on one side and Orrin Hatch on the other without recognizing that the church doesn't direct political views? I very clearly subscribe to Abraham Lincoln's view of America's political religion. And that is when you take the oath of office, your responsibility is to the nation, and that is first and foremost."
    • Governor Mitt Romney

Quotes from Governor Mitt Romney on Religion

  • "Oh, I think initially. Some people would say, Gosh, I don't know much about your faith, tell me about it. And I'd probably outline the fundamentals. I'm a religious person. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior. But then as you get into the details of doctrines I'd probably say look time out, let's focus on the values that we share. And fundamentally the values of my faith are very much like the values of other Judeo-Christian tradition values. And I think Americans want to have a leader who is a person of faith, but their not going to get terribly involved in the differences of doctrine, as long as the values we share are common."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006
  • "Not really. Not at this stage. You know its possible that there will come some point were there is a question that galvanizes interest and there is an occasion to say something that cuts through the confusion that may develop but at this stage it is kind of hard to predict what will happen. I mean I remember in the race with Ronald Reagan, it was in his debate that he said, "I'm not going to let your youth and inexperience become an issue in this campaign". That sort of put aside his age issue. And there may well be something of that nature. I just don't think Americans will do something the constitution forbids. The constitution says that no religious test shall ever be required for qualification for office in these United States, and I don't think my party or the American people would ever do that."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006
      • Guest host Judy Woodruff: John Kennedy, we remember, looked for and found a venue where he could talk about his catholic faith. The Houston ministry is a very famous speech that he gave. Would you look for and are you looking for a place were you can make a statement like this and are you looking for the right place and time?
  • "There is a leap of faith associated with every religion. You haven't exactly got those doctrines right, but if you have doctrines you want to talk about go talk to the church, because that's not my job. But the most unusual thing in my church is that we believe there was once a flood upon the earth and that a man took a boat and put two of each animal inside the boat and saved humanity by doing that."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006
      • Guest host Judy Woodruff: But there are some aspects of Mormonism that many Americans might not understand… are these legitimate issues for people to ask you about?
  • "There are unusual beliefs associated with each faith and I'm proud of my faith and happy to talk to people about it but fundamentally my race for governor, my race for senator before that, and if I run for nationally its going to be about the values that I have, and the values that I think should be emphasized in this country and answers to the kind of challenges that we face, because I believe that America is at a critical time, and I believe those are the types of issues that people will focus on."
  • "This is a sad day for neglected and abandoned children. In this case, it's a mistake for our laws to put the rights of adults over the needs of children. While I respect the board's decision to stay true to their principles, I find the current state of the law deeply disturbing and a threat to religious freedom."
  • "I ask the Legislature to work with me on a bill that I will file to ensure that religious institutions are able to participate in the important work of adoption in a way that always respects and never forces them to compromise their firmly held beliefs."

Thoughts about Governor Mitt Romney and Religion

Sept 03, 2006 Myclob

Bill Clinton said the following in his book, My Life:

I badly wanted Kennedy to win… after he spoke to the southern Baptist in Houston defending his faith and the right of Catholics Americans to run for president. Most of my classmates and their parents disagreed. I was getting used to it.

Nixon carried our county but squeaked by in our Arkansas with 52.2 percent of the vote, despite the best efforts of protestant fundamentalist to convince Baptist democrats that he would be taking orders from the pope.

Of course, the fact that he was a catholic was one of the reasons I wanted Kennedy to be president. From my own experiences at St. John's school, and my encounters with the nuns who worked with Mother St. Joseph's hospital, I liked and admired Catholics. Their values, devotion and social conscience.

I wonder if Clinton would say the same about Romney? Romney has said that Clinton was an embarrassment to our country, and so I doubt Clinton will ever say that Romney should get a fair chance on his substance. Just another instance of Hypocrisy on the left. Unless I'm proved wrong.
 
 

Ingraham: Any thoughts on Romney? Any other thoughts on Romney? He is now winning in Iowa and looks like he is winning in some polls in New Hampshire.

Dr. Dobson: Since I talked to you I have spent an hour and a half with him and I liked him. I mean he is very presidential and he has got the right answers to many, many things. I haven't made a decision yet, but lets just say he is still on the list.

"I have no problem voting for a person who is not of my faith as long as he or she stands with me on the moral and social issues. Mitt Romney may be a candidate for president. He's a Mormon. If he's pro-life, pro-family, I don't think he'll have any problem getting the support of evangelical Christians."

  • Evangelist Jerry Falwell, 07-28-2006
 
And my favorite bit of information about religion in politics comes from George Will.
 

None of The Below

By George F. Will
Sunday, December 2, 2007; B07

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's candidacy rests on serial non sequiturs: I am a Christian, therefore I am a conservative, therefore whatever I have done or propose to do with "compassionate," meaning enlarged, government is conservatism. And by the way, anything I denote as a "moral" issue is beyond debate other than by the uncaring forces of greed. His is a moralist's version of the intellectual vanity once ascribed to Oxford's Benjamin Jowett:

My name is Jowett
Of Balliol College;
If I don't know it,
It is not knowledge.

Many Iowans think it would be wise to nominate a candidate who, when the Republicans were asked during a debate to raise their hands if they do not believe in evolution, raised his. But, then, Huckabee believes America can be energy-independent in 10 years, so he has peculiar views about more than paleontology.

Huckabee combines pure moralism with incoherent populism: He wants Washington to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in public, show more solicitude for Americans of modest means and impose more protectionism, thereby raising the cost of living for Americans of modest means.

Although Huckabee is considered affable, two subliminal but clear enough premises of his Iowa attack on Mitt Romney are unpleasant: The almost 6 million American Mormons who consider themselves Christians are mistaken about that. And -- 55 million non-Christian Americans should take note -- America must have a Christian president.

Another pious populist who was annoyed by Darwin -- William Jennings Bryan -- argued that William Howard Taft, his opponent in the 1908 presidential election, was unfit to be president because he was a Unitarian, a persuasion sometimes defined as the belief that there is at most one God. The electorate chose to run the risk of entrusting the presidency to someone skeptical about the doctrine of the Trinity.

If Huckabee succeeds in derailing Romney's campaign by raising a religious test for presidential eligibility, that will be clarifying: In one particular, America was more enlightened a century ago.

Well that is about all I have about Romney and his religion... What do you think he will say?

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Faith in America

As you may have heard, Governor Romney has decided to deliver an address titled "Faith in America" later this week in College Station, Texas.
 
Provided below, for your consideration, is an on-the record statement about the speech, the governor's decision to deliver it and the themes Governor Romney will discuss:
 
 
Statement from Kevin Madden, Romney for President campaign spokesman:
 
"Governor Romney has made a decision to deliver a speech titled 'Faith in America.'
 
"The governor has been invited to The George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas to deliver this address on Thursday, December 6.
 
"This speech is an opportunity for Governor Romney to share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor's own faith would inform his Presidency if he were elected.
 
"Governor Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation."
 
"Governor Romney personally made the decision to deliver this speech sometime last week.
 
"While identifying a venue for this address, the campaign consulted with President George H.W. Bush's office last week about Governor Romney's decision.  President Bush was gracious enough to extend an invitation to deliver the speech at the presidential library.
 
"The invitation to speak at the presidential library is not an endorsement of Governor Romney's campaign.
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