Is America ready for a Mormon President?

[argent_paladin]

[quote]In the same article, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, brought up Romney's Mormon faith with the Atlantic interviewer. ''The question you didn't ask," Kennedy said, ''was about Mormonism, whether it would hurt him in a national campaign."

''The answer is no," Kennedy answered. ''We've moved on. That died with my brother Jack."[/quote]

I don't think America is ready, but I could be wrong. I know we wouldn't elect a Muslim or Hindu but I am not sure about a Jew or Mormon. I think we could definitely elect a Catholic. I think that if a woman ever is elected president, she will probably be a pro-life Republican possibly Mormon.

It would be interesting to see a Mormon run for president because I think we would see a lot of anti-Mormon, anti-white attacks from the left. What do you think?

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='argent_paladin' date='Jul 26 2005, 05:17 AM']I don't think America is ready, but I could be wrong. I know we wouldn't elect a Muslim or Hindu but I am not sure about a Jew or Mormon. I think we could definitely elect a Catholic. I think that if a woman ever is elected president, she will probably be a pro-life Republican possibly Mormon.

It would be interesting to see a Mormon run for president because I think we would see a lot of anti-Mormon, anti-white attacks from the left. What do you think?
[right][snapback]659312[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]
the idea of the mormon church infiltrating US politics doesn't really appeal to me. I doubt they believe in seperation of "mormon" church and state. but I could be wrong.

[Nathan]

I would definitely vote for a Mormon if he/she was a strong leader with a good vision and who represented my core values. I'd prefer a Catholic in the Oval Office, of course, but unfortunately there aren't many real Catholics in big-ticket politics these days. (We have people like John Kerry, and Canada's PM, Paul Martin.)

[argent_paladin]

They stole my title!! In today's Boston Globe:

Are we ready for a Mormon president?

By Alex Beam, Globe Columnist | July 21, 2005

I spent a week earlier this month vacationing with friends in California. Because we don't have a governor with a household name, they inquired who was running Massachusetts. ''Mitt Romney," I replied, adding: ''He's running for president."

That came as news to them, and provoked this rejoinder: ''Really? But isn't he a Mormon? Can a Mormon be elected president?"

''It's a fascinating question," says Alan Wolfe, director of Boston College's Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. ''Catholics like to talk about anti-Catholicism and Jews like to complain about anti-Semitism. But a hundred years ago, Mormonism was the most hated religion in America. Since then the religion has changed dramatically. It's almost like a new business taking off -- it's a quintessential American success story."

Wolfe thinks that if Romney's ambitions take him to the 2008 Republican primaries, he's likely to be slimed by political operatives of the Karl Rove mold. ''I think there will be rumors spread about how Mitt Romney has six wives, all of them 14 years of age, stashed in a house in Utah. These rumors will be denied, but they will stick in people's minds. There is some subterranean sentiment about curious practices in Mormonism."

I agree with Wolfe, but I think it's not just Republicans who are sharpening their knives for a Romney run. Democrats gleefully smeared Romney when he ran for the Senate against Edward Kennedy in 1994. Capitalizing on Romney's leadership roles in the church -- he was president of 14 Boston-area congregations -- the media trotted out a succession of accusers, some anonymous, who asserted that Romney and the Mormons were antiabortion, anti-single mother, and anti-gay. Of course, those comments could be made about almost any mainstream faith in the United States.

Kennedy's nephew Joseph, then a congressman, gave a speech asserting that the Mormon faith excluded blacks, which it does not. Little Joe then apologized publicly, ensuring that the allegations played through a second news cycle. When Romney ran for governor three years ago, Democrats were less eager to play the religion card. Their candidate, Shannon O'Brien, was Catholic, and that church was embroiled in a national sex-abuse scandal.

So what can Romney expect now, as he dips his toe into the presidential waters? No one is going to trash his religion unless they have to, meaning unless his candidacy shows signs of success. But I've already been pitched on a quirky column item about the funny garments Mormons wear while worshiping. How tasteful. Maybe I can make fun of Hasidic Jews' curly forelocks and the pope's curious headgear while I'm at it.

Another consultant with ties to the Democrats suggested that I address a more substantive question, raised by Harvard Business School dean Kim Clark's recent decision to leave HBS for the presidency of Brigham Young University-Idaho. In May, Clark, who is Mormon, received a call from his church's president asking him to leave Harvard and head for Idaho.

So would Romney likewise feel obliged to follow the dictates of the church's president, whom Mormons believe to be a divinely inspired prophet? John F. Kennedy faced this same question concerning his loyalty to Catholicism during the 1960 election, and addressed it in a famous speech to Protestant ministers in Houston. ''I am not the Catholic candidate for president," Kennedy said. ''I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic . . . I do not speak for my church on public matters; and the church does not speak for me."

Romney's spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom says the governor's ''first obligation is to fulfill his duty of office, and that would take precedence over anything. If he were to get a Kim Clark-like call, he would not react in the same way. This is a governor who has signed a law permitting Sunday alcohol sales, and who has been open to an expansion of gaming. [Observant Mormons do not smoke, gamble, or drink spirits.] This is by no means someone who is marching in lockstep with his church."

[Didacus]

[quote] the media trotted out a succession of accusers, some anonymous, who asserted that Romney and the Mormons were antiabortion, anti-single mother, and anti-gay. Of course, those comments could be made about almost any mainstream faith in the United States.[/quote]
Sounds like that just might be what the US needs?

lol

[quote]When Romney ran for governor three years ago, Democrats were less eager to play the religion card. Their candidate, Shannon O'Brien, was Catholic, and that church was embroiled in a national sex-abuse scandal.[/quote]

no further comment

[quote]Romney's spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom says the governor's ''first obligation is to fulfill his duty of office, and that would take precedence over anything.[/quote]

Do you get the feeling politiciens sell their souls?

[jezic]

i don't know that i like the idea (in that article) of comparing a "religion" to an american success story. It just seems like they are two very different things.

I don't really know what mormons believe so i can't say. I might vote for one if they represent the values i hold, but i would take a Catholic over them (not a kerry style catholic).

[Frankencow]

XD

[Thy Geekdom Come]

It would be almost no different from having all those masonic presidents we had...

[geetarplayer]

I think a Mormon President might clear up some of the discrimination that most Christians have against Mormons. Mormonism as a religion may be ridiculous, but Mormons themselves are really quite normal.

-Mark

[Didacus]

[quote name='geetarplayer' date='Jul 26 2005, 09:54 AM']I think a Mormon President might clear up some of the discrimination that most Christians have against Mormons.  Mormonism as a religion may be ridiculous, but Mormons themselves are really quite normal.

-Mark
[right][snapback]659460[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

I second that notion, in fact I found mormons have a peticular devotion within their lives that actually bring them to excel in their endeavors. I have lot of respect for mormons... the religion itself though is kinda questionable on a great many issues and fronts.

[thessalonian]

I lived in Utah for 8 years. I would have no problem with a Mormon president. Their beliefs are out there but their moral values in general are sound.

[jezic]

how would the democrats react?

[St. Catherine]

I have lived in Utah my whole life. There is very little separation of church and state here. I once was mormon and they are not as pro life as you may think. As for Mitt Romney, I haven't liked him since they held the Winter Olympics here.

[thessalonian]

[quote name='St. Catherine' date='Jul 26 2005, 01:59 PM']I have lived in Utah my whole life.  [/quote]
My condolences.
[quote]There is very little separation of church and state here.  I once was mormon and they are not as pro life as you may think.  As for Mitt Romney, I haven't liked him since they held the Winter Olympics here.
[right][snapback]659849[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

True, Mormons do dominate Utah Politics. When 80% of the state is mormon this is likely to happen. On a national level it would be very difficult for them to pull such dominance off.

There are some areas of the pro-life debate they are soft on. i.e. life of the mother. and rape.

Edited July 26, 2005 by thessalonian

[Ash Wednesday]

I don't think the south would be ready for a Mormon president. So it probably wouldn't happen.

[Oik]

I would vote for a mormon president. The qualifications would be the same, needs to be pro-life, etc. I would vote for a woman.

Actually, I don't really care much whether the president is male or female, Catholic or Protestant, or in this case even sectarian non-christian.


As long as they are Pro-life, moral, just.


The ideal candidate would be Catholic (not a Kerry or Kennedy Catholic).


If a woman is going to run though, i would hope that she is single (not divorced and chaste) though. This is just a personal preferance though.

[Oik]

It seemed to me growing up in Mississippi that people didn't really talk about Mormons (or Jehovah's Witnesses). I think the South wouldn't mind. People in MS seem to target Catholics the worst when it comes to religion (though it has gotten waaaaaaaaaay better in the past 5 years).

The one's you have to worry about are the West/South West. There are a lot of Mormons in Arizona and man, they really get the poor treatment.

[thessalonian]

I just saw his statement about abortion on the news. He says he is against abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother. In other words we should punish the child for the father's behavior. sad. I hope he is not the choice I have to make. He also says he wants states to be able to decide the issue. So people can just go across the boarder to get what they can't where it is illegal. I wasn't too impressed.

[desertwoman]

I want an Amish president, that would be interesting...but it will never happen.

[Ash Wednesday]

I'm definitely not feelin' Election 2008. All this "Hillary" talk makes me want to gag and the Democrats are still stupid as ever, hitting the snooze button after the last attempted wake up call. And I don't know what Republicans sound all that appealing.