As America prepares for the 2012 presidential elections, it is of note that the Republican hopeful is a Mormon.
Does that matter? Should the rest of the world be concerned if a Mormon occupied the White House? Comparisons are made with John F. Kennedy, who was a Roman Catholic. That was not a barrier to high office for JFK, therefore membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) should pose no barrier to Mitt Romney. So the argument goes.
Not orthodox Christian
Of course, Romney may be a fine man. The LDS church has always affirmed family values and, personally, I have found Mormons amiable and honest. Atheists hold high office in the UK, so we can hardly claim that personal faith is required for political leadership. In fact, many evangelicals in America are happy to endorse the essential moral values of Romney in spite of his allegiance to Mormonism. But this news story is promoting an important confusion. The confusion is seen in the comparison made between Romney and Kennedy. Mormonism and Roman Catholicism share the fact that they are not evangelical. But that is about the limit of the comparison. Mormonism is not orthodox Christian by any stretch of the definition.
Comedy, free speech and warnings from the past
Hannah Arendt was a Jewish philosopher who grew up in Nazi Germany. Eventually she had to flee to France and, …