You may have read about the controversy surrounding the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit (though isn’t safe to assume that all voters vote their values?) and the claim that Gov. Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith makes him a member of a non-Christian “cult.” From Politico:

Texas evangelical leader Robert Jeffress, the Baptist megachurch pastor who introduced Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit, said Friday afternoon he does not believe Mitt Romney is a Christian.

Jeffress described Romney’s Mormon faith as a “cult,” and said evangelicals had only one real option in the 2012 primaries.

“That is a mainstream view, that Mormonism is a cult,” Jeffress told reporters here. “Every true, born again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian.”
Asked by POLITICO if he believed Romney is a Christian, Jeffress answered: “No.”

Jeffress said that fundamentalist Christians cannot trust that Romney will be a strong advocate for their conservative values (a claim that is reasonable even without bringing Romney’s faith into the conversation), and that while Romney is a fine example of an individual living out family values, “It is only faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone that qualifies you as a Christian.”

Romney spoke later, but did not address Jeffress’s comments directly; he instead chose to denounce divisive language in general and addressed one particular speaker, radio talk show host Bryan Fischer:

We should remember that decency and civility are values too. One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line I think. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us – let no agenda, narrow our vision or drive us apart.

Fischer lived up to Romney’s expectations, stating that the US needs a president who understands that just as Islam represents the greatest long term threat to national liberty, the “homosexual agenda” represents the greatest immediate threat to every freedom and right enshrined in the first amendment (Fischer was interrupted with enthusiastic applause after making this claim).

Romney interestingly chose not to condemn the specific attack on his religious faith, but instead sought to distance himself from a far-right extremist whose views will alienate and shock an overwhelming number of mainstream Americans. Why is Romeny ignoring Jeffress’s attack and focusing only on Fischer? Is he already playing to the centrist voters who decide general elections as polls show him once again leading in key Republican primary races? Is he hoping to avoid ties to the more extreme cohorts of his party, associations that will ultimately prove unpalatable to general election voters? Or, has he recognized that the current GOP appears sometimes to function more as a church than as a political party? (If Perry is given the nod, his Texas-sized prayer rally will only reinforce this notion). Is he not addressing the claims against Mormonism in an attempt to deflect attention from the issue altogether and perhaps not offend any who may agree with such charges?

In another vein, can one make a claim similar to Jeffress without being a bigot? I studied under a theology professor who had great respect for the Mormon faith, but whose own theological investigations led him to conclude that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) should not be considered traditionally Christian due to their rejection of key Christological councils, to which both the Catholic Church and mainline Protestant churches ascribe theological significance. Does this sort of theological exploration differ from political speeches? Is there place in the public sphere to discuss such matters? If so, is a presidential primary that place?
Read the Politico article here.
Watch a clip of Romney’s speech here, and Fischer’s here.
Michael J. O’Loughlin

Michael J. O’Loughlin is national correspondent at America and author of Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.