This November, the American people will have a choice. A choice of which candidate they to be their leader for the next four years. The economy and international policies will be placed at the focal point of this election.
Yet, in America, there is always an underlying issue on which voters will base their decision: religion.
For some odd reason, religion has always been at the forefront on the campaign trail, and this year is no different. GOP candidate Mitt Romney is constantly under fire for his policies and personal life on the campaign trail. Why is this? For the first time in American history, a candidate from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has won the presidential nomination for a major party.
So why does it matter that he is Mormon? And should it matter?
From its origins in the mid 1800’s, Mormonism has constantly been the center of American religious persecution. Many mainline Protestants and Catholics believed that Mormonism was not a truly Christian religion, and more or less of a cult.
What I find truly sad is that even after almost two centuries, many people still hold these beliefs.
Ironically, the beliefs of the LDS church do not stray from the mainline Christian values and practices. They use both the King James Version of the New Testament and the Old Testament, believe in Jesus as their savior and preach strong family and moral values.
The stigma that separates Mormonism from the other Christian sects is that they have other scripture, such as the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
Yes, Mormons have come under scrutiny over the years with the former practice of polygamy.
However, the LDS Church strictly banned that practice in the early 1900s. It is only practiced now by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is no more accepted by the LDS church than the Ku Klux Klan by the Catholic Church.
As for Romney’s campaign, it should not matter that he is Mormon as opposed to Protestant. The beliefs between the two religions are virtually synonymous. And even if Romney did want to bring his beliefs into politics, we have a division of church and state to prevent that from happening.
What we need to be focusing on is not the presidential candidates’ religious views, but their political views.
Our economy is terrible, many of us are thousands of dollars in debt and we have terrorists attempting to destroy our nation every day. Why should we overlook these issues in order to vote for someone with our similar private practices?
What I ask you all to do is to vote for who will steer this country in the right direction. Let us throw out our religious differences and bigotry, and vote for the best candidate.
Religion matters only at home, not in our government.
