Mitt Romney: Say Religion Not Important Factor in Election

[_keithb]

I pulled this answer of Mitt's from a recent Republican debate. The link to the full article is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/mitt-romneys-wrong-right-answer-on-religion/2011/10/19/gIQA6mo0xL_blog.html?wprss=compost

“You know, with — with regards to the disparaging comments about my faith, I've heard worse, so I'm not going to lose sleep over that,” Romney began.
“What I actually found was most troubling in what the reverend said in the introduction was he said, in choosing our nominee, we should inspect his religion. And someone who is a good moral person is not someone who we should select; instead, we should choose someone who subscribes to our religious belief.

“That — that idea that we should choose people based upon their religion for public office is what I find to be most troubling, because the founders of this country went to great length to make sure — and even put it in the Constitution — that we would not choose people who represent us in government based upon their religion, that this would be a nation that recognized and respected other faiths, where there's a plurality of faiths, where there was tolerance for other people and faiths. That's bedrock principle.

“And it was that principle, Governor, that I wanted you to be able to [say], no, no, that's wrong, Reverend Jeffress. Instead of saying as you did, ‘Boy, that introduction knocked the ball out of the park,’ I'd have said, ‘Reverend Jeffress, you got that wrong. We should select people not based upon their faith.’ Even though — and I don't suggest you distance yourself from your faith any more than I would. But the concept that we select people based on the church or the synagogue they go to, I think, is a very dangerous and — and enormous departure from the principles of our — of our Constitution.”

Thoughts?

[_malkie]

Living in a country (Canada) where nobody seems to care about the religious affiliations (or lack thereof) of candidates for public office, I find myself a little bemused by the US situation.

If I recall correctly, a recent Prime Minister of Canada (a Catholic) was threatened with the withholding of mass because of his stand on abortion rights, he (politely and publicly) told his ecclesiastical leaders to butt out. I suspect that people may find it hard to imagine Mitt acting in this way towards his church leaders.

[_Drifting]

"I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law."
Mitt Romney verbally breaking his Temple covenant in December 2007