Romney was on Face the Nation this week. Bob Schieffer spent a fair amount of time asking him questions about his faith, which I will now go over so that you, the peoples, can make an informed decision (with my guidance, because, like many of the politicians I gripe about, Romney is fucking crazy).
First, I'm okay with Romney talking about his faith. I want to make it clear that I don't dislike Christians (or Mormons) for the fact that they believe, and indeed, that they are honest with the people is more important to me than pure politics. I don't have a problem voting for a Christian, provided they lined up with me on all the issues. What I do have a problem with, when it comes to faith-heads, is what they believe, and Romney sidesteps that shit like you would avoid the plague. We consider people who believe that Jesus talks to them through the morse code tap tap tapping of raindrops to be crazy, and I, by extension find people who believe in an invisible man in the sky who watches their every movement and exists within the paradox of being both omnipotent and omniscient to be crazy. That's just how that goes.
Schieffer asks Romney if he believes the literal teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to which he responds "I do. I'm not going to try to distance myself in any way, shape or form, from my church." Whoo. But wait, it gets better. He goes on to say that he finds that "religious individuals have an enormous advantage in stability in their life", which, just so we're clear, is untrue. I'd prove it, but a quick Google search will get you what you need.
He also refers to himself as "true blue, through and through", which I find amusing, because he's a Republican. Sorry, it's a stupid irony, but I chuckled.
Anyway, when asked questioned about his belief in evolution (stated in one of the earlier debates), states that he sees no dichotomy between science and religion, and that while he believes in God, it is certainly within the realm of possibility for God to use the "tool of evolution" to design man. Which sort of contradicts him taking the teachings of his church literally. Hmm...
Oh, and then, when asked if he believes the Garden of Eden was in Missouri (something actually taught by the Church of LDS), he deftly sidesteps the question, stating that the best people to ask about that are church officials, and then goes on to talk about the morality, and how it's formed on Judeo-Christian tenets.
Tactically, Romney is brilliant here. By sidestepping the crazy and focusing on the similarities (by simply refusing to get into the finer points of his religion), he is bringing himself closer to the Christian right. By saying "Hey, science is pretty good," he's making sane people hate him just a little bit less. He even talks about how religious leaders have no place in the office of the presidency, which is correct. His first duty is to the American people, not the religious people. He would follow the Constitution and the Rule of Law, instead of the will of the Mormon people.
The main problem here is that his religion still informs his morality, making his problems my problems. He's a social conservative, and that's just too little freedom for my taste. He's stated he wants to "double Guantanamo", which is simply unacceptable.
So, even though he's a very attractive man, and he is:
he is simply not worth voting for.There's a point I want to make, and I want to make it clear: Don't not vote for Romney because he's a Mormon. Don't vote for him for that reason, either. Vote (or, more preferably, don't vote) for him because of his politics, not his religion. Vote for Obama on his politics, not his race. Vote for Hilary on her politics, not her sex.
Or, write in Howard Dean. I know I will.
1 comment:
You write very well.
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