Religion and the Campaign

The way I see it, people make too much of a presidential candidate's religious affiliation.

I have been a Catholic my entire life, though I call myself a “Recovering Catholic” thanks to my 12 years of Catholic education. I have also been a Democrat for 25 years. Twenty-three years ago I married into a Mormon family. I mention these facts because there are people who are critical of one of the Presidential candidates because he is Mormon, much like people were critical of Kennedy for being Catholic when he ran for President.

From my perspective the LDS Church is not much different from most other Christian denominations. Anyone who does not think Mormons are Christian has not seen my credit card statements in January. Do Mormons have some unique beliefs? Of course, but nothing I have been a part of has made me question their sanity (with the exception of my mother-in-law, but that has nothing to do with her faith) or to think them nothing more than a cult. The millions of followers world wide should be enough to debunk the cult notion. Its not like they think aliens populated the earth, or play with snakes in church. What I have learned from the Mormons I have known over the last 23 years is that they are good, Christian people with strong family values who love their country. Christianity is a full spectrum religion, whether one is Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical, Methodist, Eastern Orthodox, or LDS, and all should be respected for their convictions in their beliefs.

That being said, why does anyone care what flavor of Christianity a political candidate prefers? Or whether the person is a Christian at all? Though I don’t think a non-Christian president will be elected in my lifetime. This is, in my opinion, our greatest prejudice in this country. True, our religious up-bringing does have a tremendous influence on our personal belief systems, but I know of nothing in any of the teachings of these aforementioned religions which could endanger the welfare of the nation.

Should we not be more concerned whether a candidate will do what is best for the country and its citizens? Look at a candidate’s stance on the issues that are impacting this country, not whether he or she is Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Wiccan, Black, White, man, or woman. Is the candidate a patriotic, loyal American who will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic? Our leaders pledge loyalty to the Constitution, not to a person, a political party, or a religion. I fear that we, as a nation, are forgetting this fact.

It should not matter what the President chooses to do on Sunday, so long as we are allowed to do what we want on Sunday (or Saturday for many). Let us keep religion out of the election. If we continue to uphold the Constitution, our personal liberties will be protected regardless of a President’s religious convictions.