July 12, 2007

Global view: Religion in the presidential race

Here's another installment of "Global view" – a new feature bringing you opinions, analysis and commentary from local contributors with ties to Orange County but global expertise and connections.

Benjamin J. Hubbard, professor emeritus of comparative religion at Cal State Fullerton, teaches courses on Judaism, religion and the media, and world religions. His co-authored book “An Educator's Classroom Guide to America's Religious Beliefs and Practices” came out in April.

In coming days and weeks, the “O.C. and the World” will introduce other new community contributors who will frequently offer unique insights on current affairs with a global perspective.

ROMNEY AND THE MORMON FACTOR

"Even though the Sixth Amendment prohibits the government from any “religious test” for public office, a huge block of conservative Christians are applying their own test to the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney.

Much like President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, the former Massachusetts governor and member of the Latter Day Saints Church has tried repeatedly to distinguish his personal faith from his political philosophy.

Romney achieved this goal with distinction as the conservative governor of a liberal state. Yet, as he campaigns in Iowa and elsewhere, the questions persist.

One woman there asked him whether his primary source of inspiration as president would be the Bible or the Book of Mormon. He simply answered that he saw no conflict “between the values of great faiths, like mine, like yours…like Jews who don’t believe in the New Testament.” (One has to wonder how people such as the Iowa woman would react if New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Jew, were to declare his candidacy.)

So why are evangelicals so exercised about a Mormon in the White House?

Although most scholars—and Mormons themselves—consider the LDS Church a type of Christianity, it does differ in several respects from more traditional forms of the faith. The Book of Mormon is the revealed word of God alongside the Old and New Testaments, God the Father and Jesus have physical bodies, and there are three levels or kingdoms in heaven. Additionally, though Mormons outlawed polygamy in the 1890, stereotyping and the existence of rogue Mormon polygamists in Utah, Arizona and Colorado taint the image of orthodox LDS members.

Yet, on family values issues, Mormons are largely in sync with evangelicals: anti-abortion in most cases, and opposed to gay marriage and pre-marital sex. Ironically, Romney is the only one of three leading Republican candidates for president (along with John McCain and Rudy Giuliani) who has never been divorced. That should give him significant kudos on the traditional values scale, since the New Testament forbids divorce in all cases except porneia or sexual immorality.

Despite the misgivings of many evangelicals about Romney’s presidential run, some of them have recently begun to enter into dialogue with Mormons—including members of one conservative Orange County church.
And Dr. Richard Mouw, president of the conservative Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, has publicly stated that traditional Christians owe Mormons an apology for misrepresenting them for more than a hundred years.

Tom Thorkelson, director of public relations for the LDS Church in Orange Country, is optimistic that evangelical attitudes towards his faith will gradually change, and points to these new trends as an indication.

If evangelicals can distinguish Giuliani’s marital history from his political skills, why shouldn’t they judge Romney on his political abilities and not his religious affiliation?