Faith in politics: a new discussion

by: staff - Dec 6, 2007 - comments: 7

Americans are, by and large, a religious people. And religion has played a positive and particularly significant role in our nation’s history. Yet the question before us today is: Are the presidential candidates’ positions on religious matters germane to their candidacy?

Is Mitt Romney the Mormon candidate for president; is Mike Huckabee the Southern Baptist candidate for president; and is Barack Obama the United Church of Christ’s candidate for president?

Of course not.

Particularly in the United States, where the freedom of religious expression is secured in the Constitution, the debate should not be about the candidates’ theology, but about the candidates’ values and how their values square with your biblically informed values. In the case of Governor Romney, it doesn’t mean we should sugarcoat the fact that Mormonism is not an orthodox Christian faith, but that a candidate’s faith should not disqualify him or her from involvement in politics.

Our forefathers believed so strongly that there should not be a religious test for public office that they made sure such a prohibition was in the Constitution (Article VI).

For more on Dr. Land’s perspective on this timely issue, please visit the below links…

This page (including text and links) is not final and may be updated at any time.)

Essential Reading, Listening, and Viewing

  • Dr. Land, have you endorsed Mitt Romney? – RichardLandAnswers.com (podcast)
    I get emails from some folks saying, “Dr. Land, have you endorsed Mitt Romney?” I write back and say, “No. Thank you for asking. Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers. A lot of it’s wrong. If you have any questions, email us, call us, write to us. Give us an opportunity to clarify the record.”
  • Mitt Romney makes case to conservatives for support – Baptist Press
    (Excerpt) Richard Land… does not endorse candidates but was in attendance for the speech at the invitation of Romney. Land said he believes Mormonism falls outside the boundaries of orthodox Christianity but that Romney addressed evangelicals’ main concerns. “I’m one of those evangelicals who do not believe that Mormonism is an orthodox with a small ‘o,’ Trinitarian with a capital ‘T’ faith,” Land said on CNN.”
  • Romney Speech May Quiet Some Critics, But Not All – Religion News Service
    (Excerpt) [Land] said the subtle language Romney used to address how he views Jesus Christ was particularly important… “He’s espousing Jesus Christ as a savior of mankind but he’s not asserting that he believes in Jesus the way orthodox Christians do,” said Land.
  • RADIO: Brian and the Judge (MP3) – Fox News Radio
  • TV: Land discusses Romney on Hannity & Colmes – FoxNews.com
    (Transcript and video)
    (Excerpt) “I’m an evangelical Christian. I do not believe that Mormonism is an orthodox with a small “o,” Trinitarian with a capital “T”, apostolic with a capital “A” historic Christian faith. But that shouldn’t be a disqualification for running for the president of the United States!”
  • Land on Good Morning America – Media Matters (Partial Transcript)
    (Excerpt) “DIANE SAWYER: But Dr. Land, let me ask you a yes-or-no question: Do you consider Mormons Christians?
    RICHARD LAND: No, I do not. I think that if you look at their doctrine of God the Father and their doctrine of God the Son, The Doctrines [sic] and Covenants, which is one of their sacred texts, says, “As man now is, God once was; and as God now is, man may become… no historic Christian faith would say that about God the Father.”
  • CNN: Richard Land: Mitt Romney’s Speech “Magnificent” – YouTube
  • ‘Neither defense nor assessment should be confused with endorsement’ – ERLC.com
    (Excerpt)“Defending Governor Romney’s right to run is very different than endorsing Governor Romney, which I have not done,” Land said.
  • The JFK Speech – JFKLibrary.org
  • Mitt Romney’s ‘Faith in America’ Speech – National Review
  • 2007 Romney and Mormonism – A Baptist Press News Collection

Comments by others

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This page (including text and links) is not final and may be updated at any time.)

Further Learning

Learn more about: Faith, Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Church and State, National, Religious Liberty

7 comments (post your own) feed

1 On Dec 11th, 2007, at 8:33pm, Mike wrote:

See Opposing Christian Comments located in Related Article
“The anatomy of a retraction: setting the record straight

2 On Dec 12th, 2007, at 8:37am, Mike West wrote:

Dr Land, How dare you as an ordained spiritual minister lead us not to the throne of God by the way of scriptures to find out what He has to say regarding these matters? Instead, you have poorly spent our tithing resources and time on promoting and elevating the temporal authority of the civic state realm (US government) and have totally excluded the eternal sovereign authority that God Almighty has over the church and yes even the state. You are dangerously leading Christians based on your own understanding. Instead of quoting the U.S. Constitution or the missed intent of it by an Adulterous President, who’s probably residing you know where, you should be quoting Jethro and the Godly advise he gave Moses in how to select civil leaders found in Exodus 18:21. Americans have the legal right to vote for who ever they desire. Christians do not have that right. They represent the crown rights of our King Jesus!

3 On Dec 12th, 2007, at 11:31am, Dr. John Boyd wrote:

What a dilema evangelicals would face if Mitt Romney were the Republican nomminee!!!  We would have to vote for Mr. Romney while knowing that because of his strong ties with Mormonism, thousands of people would enlist in that cult and seal their eternal doom.  Or...we could vote for the Democrat nomminee and further the cause of godless socialism in America.  To popularize an anti-Christian cult or promote the cause of socialism...what a lose-lose proposition!  For evangelicals who think a Mormon President would not hurt the people of America, you need to look beyond the temporal effects and pray for the eternal outcome.

4 On Dec 16th, 2007, at 6:30pm, Mikaela wrote:

I think that it is high time that people start minding their own business and realize what the notion of “world problems” actually entails. Focus on the real issues - the issues that truly impact us all. While so many of you fret over gay marriage and abortion (neither of which should concern anyone who is not directly involved), global warming is decimating our planet, religious and oil wars are destroying families and eating up crucial monetary resources, education efforts falter at all levels, and the economy continues to suffer in every possible aspect. What everyone needs to understand is that the notion of family values is not synonymous with Christianity - nor will the promotion of squeaky clean family values (at least as defined by the readers of this website) serve as an antidote to society’s - or the world’s - problems. And just as Kennedy and Clinton made some major mistakes in their careers and lives, so have Bush and so many others - and most will argue even more so.

5 On Dec 18th, 2007, at 9:57am, Mike West wrote:

Mikaela, you are so right, our world has BIG problems! Every since the fall of Lucifer from Heaven & Man in the Garden of Eden, Satan became God of this world for a limited time only. From one generation to the next, he has deceived many people from accepting our created place as children of God. He lures them into thinking they too can become as God by rejecting laws which actually protect us. All this chaos we see was foretold by prophets in the Bible thousands of years ago before the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. Out of His great Love, God the Father sent his only Son from heaven to live a sinless life and die a cruel death in order to pay the penalty for all these sins, including mine and yours. His shed blood on the cross of Calvary is the only true antidote for mankind. By, accepting this free sacrificial gift within our hearts, we can overcome our current problems & escape the coming days of death and destruction when God’s wrath is finally rendered. Mike

6 On Dec 22nd, 2007, at 8:00pm, Harry Rockfeller wrote:

Mike, your first post, as directed to this topic was a good post.

Our U.S. Constitution’s (USC) article VI was mentioned as the legal grounds that anyone, no matter what religious faith, may serve in our federal government.  Does article VI only pertain to religions of candidates for office or does it go further?  Dr Gary North in _Political Polytheism_ believes this article, along with the first three words of the preamble “We the People”, establishes an official humanist federal government.  Most Christians cannot connect the dots that religion -> morality -> civil morality -> civil crime and punishment means government *is* religious.  It cannot be any other way.  Once this is believed, Christians must decide if year of our LORD, or mention of Sabbath in the USC means our federal government is under the authority of King Jesus or does article VI say it is not?  Maybe our USC is as James speaks of the demons, who recognize Jesus Christ and His authority but disallow it?

7 On Jan 4th, 2008, at 12:27pm, Dr. John H. Boyd wrote:

We could stay on the “Separation of church and state” merry-go-round until our tongues blister and pop!  Or...we could recognize that our government, like other “good” governments, was set up {as the Scriptures indicate} to serve God’s plan of civil protection for the redeemed.  Jesus told Pilate that he had no power that did not come from God.  Jesus said (tongue in cheek) render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s.  He said this knowing that his disciples knew that everything belongs to God!  Don’t you know that, too?  If our government does not serve God’s design for it, it serves Satn’s design for government (like communism, socialism, and other repressive governments.  Since God only honors those nations whose God is the Lord, how can you say government and God must be separate?  Just asking!

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