A big news story lately in the GOP presidential race has been the failure of Evangelicals to reach consensus to support one of the candidates. After the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Evangelical leaders conferred and began to rally around Senator Rick Santorum. I found the lateness of this endorsement curious.
Senator Santorum is well-known as a social conservative. Indeed, his stance as a fiscal conservative has been questioned and even attacked throughout his career. Many of Senator Santorum’s most passionate political causes are rooted in his religious faith, which informs his deeply held belief that the traditional family unit is the key to solving many of our society’s problems. As a result, he has fought against legal access to abortion, stem cell research and same sex marriage. While in the Senate, he was best known for his outspokenness on such social issues. Consequently, he seems reminiscent of the type of politician that tends to appeal to conservative Evangelicals.
Yet Senator Santorum’s candidacy was largely overlooked in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses. Some may find that puzzling. I do not. Rick Santorum is no Evangelical; he is a devout Catholic. That may not have been an issue when he was running for Senate in Pennsylvania. But in other parts of the country where Evangelicalism is more influential, I believe his choice of Christian denomination is a political liability.
I find it fascinating that I have not heard this issue examined in the mainstream media. Maybe it has been covered and I just missed it, but I think it is an important issue that should be getting more attention. I suspect, however, that most in the mainstream media don’t even recognize anti-Catholic sentiment as an on-going issue. As I’ve written in my blogs previously, the mainstream media tends to not be terribly well-versed in religious issue generally, and is particularly out-of-touch with Evangelical thought and culture.
By contrast, we have heard much more in the mainstream media about anti-Mormon bigotry in the context of the candidacy of Governor Mitt Romney (and for a while John Huntsman). I think that attention is interesting as well.
I don’t think being a Catholic in national politics is a cakewalk. I think it is an obstacle to overcome due to on-going Protestant skepticism about Catholicism. But to a certain degree, I do agree that the historical antagonisms between Protestants and Catholics have lessened in the last few decades--largely due to the aftermath of Roe v. Wade. After that landmark Supreme Court opinion, the Catholic Church was the first and most outspoken opponent of the newly protected abortion rights. Evangelicals are also widely associated to the issue now; the “pro-life” stance has long been a unifying cause within Evangelical politics. But in truth, Evangelicals were initially a little late to the game. They eventually joined Catholics in opposition to abortion, and to a certain degree, I have observed this emotional issue to prompt the formation of political alliances that previously would have been unimaginable.
By contrast, I have continued to witness first-hand and in the media deeply held hostility to the LDS faith. This hostility seems to fester in many quarters. It seems to be shared by both conservatives and progressives. Protestants and Catholics sometimes balk at the idea that Mormonism is a Christian religion. Indeed, the Mormon Church is sometimes labeled a “cult” by such skeptics. Interestingly, I have also heard such things said about Catholicism. As a devout Catholic for much of my Christian walk, I can attest such labels are hurtful.
I find it fascinating that in the twenty-first century a candidate’s LDS faith is apparently such a political liability. Governor Romney’s business record has been attacked recently, but that is fairly late in the race. It seems significant that such attacks are coming only as his clinching of the nomination seems more and more certain. When examined, those attacks also seem to be on fairly thin ice.
Previously, Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts was also attacked, but those also seemed to be of questionable strength. From my vantage point, Governor Romney’s allegedly moderate political stance is a joke. It seems pretty desperate to attempt to attack his conservative credentials. Governor Romney is no progressive. He is instead a skilled and pragmatic politician. If he had embraced positions like Senator Santorum’s, he would never have been elected to state-wide office in Massachusetts.
Governor Romney’s religion is the only reason I can identify for the astounding GOP reluctance to embrace his candidacy. Think about it. Governor Romney is in many ways an ideal GOP presidential candidate. He is a successful businessman and champion of the private sector. He is a family man and a leader in his church. He embodies family values. He has been married to the same woman for decades and has a bunch of kids. None of them seem to bad-mouth him.
Moreover, Governor Romney is photogenic, well-organized and has access to plenty of campaign funding. Though no one is perfect, he is much more articulate than many past and present GOP candidates. His opponents have really had to take things out of context and twist his words to put him on the defensive.
The bottom line is that Governor Romney is a conservative with enough political savvy to succeed in a liberal strong-hold like Massachusetts. All this has the Obama campaign quaking in their boots. They would much rather take on Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul in the general election. Mssrs. Gingrich and Paul both have had messy questions raised about them in the election and some of their political positions are considered too extreme. But Governor Romney doesn’t have those sorts of political vulnerabilities and would be a formidable opponent. With all that going for him, it seems to me the GOP should be thanking their lucky stars for Governor Romney.
But it remains to be seen if Governor Romney’s LDS faith will be too much of a political Achilles ’ heel for his candidacy. I have heard socially conservative Republicans in casual conversation cite his religion as the main reason they don’t support him in the primaries. Some of the comments I’ve heard were pretty offensive in the way they characterized Mormonism. LDS hostility is much stronger than I personally would have imagined.
Perhaps the country was ready for an African American president, but it seems the jury is still out on whether it is ready for an LDS president. Personally, I’m not sure why Governor Romney’s religion would matter. But apparently it does. I find that reality incredibly sad in a nation founded on principles of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. My own hope is that Governor Romney’s candidacy will prompt more discussion of the issue of religious bigotry. I myself don’t feel the need to agree with a candidate’s theology to support him or her in a secular election. I’m surprised more Americans don’t feel the same. We don’t live in a theocracy.
1 Corinthians 12:25-27
…that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whenever one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
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