USA Today published my commentary today under the
headline, "Presidential candidate's faith matters." I've included
below both the published (after their editing) version and the original text I
submitted.
 |
| Mitt Romney |
Assailing a pastor who impoliticly contrasted GOP
presidential candidate Mitt
Romney's Mormon beliefs with orthodox Christianity, law professor
Rodney Smith suggests that considering a candidate's beliefs is the equivalent
of declaring "a religious test for political purposes" and that the
Christian faith is merely a personal "brand" ("Column: Founders wouldn't have
targeted Mormons").
The latter assertion
ignores the fact that two millennia of Christian consensus, reflected both in
Scripture and historical creeds, unite both Catholics and Protestants around
core truths that include the Trinity, the unique deity of Christ and more. The
fact that Mormon leaders do not share this orthodox Christian consensus calls
for discernment rather than discrimination.
As to "declaring a
religious test for political purposes," even typically pragmatic Americans
consider a presidential candidate's personal faith relevant, for we recognize
that a worldview can guide decisions. Americans have learned much about faith
and politics by observing the policies of many faith-professing presidents from
Washington to Lincoln to Bush and Obama.
Each of these
presidents professed to support, along with the Founders, the rights to life
and liberty in the Declaration of Independence. Yet how and whether
each president implemented those truths in public policy — consider slavery and
abortion, for example — has varied greatly.
What matters in
politics is the same thing that matters in the Christian faith: It's not just
what you say you believe, but what you prove you believe by your actions.
Jonathan Imbody
Vice President for
Government Relations
Christian Medical
Association; Ashburn, Va.
(To give you an idea of
what gets edited, the original version submitted is below; text deleted by the
editors is in italics)
Assailing a pastor who
perhaps impoliticly contrasted GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon
beliefs with orthodox Christianity, law professor Rodney K. Smith suggests that
considering a candidate's beliefs is the equivalent of "declaring a
religious test for political purposes" and that the Christian faith is
merely a personal "brand" ("Founders wouldn't have targeted
Mormons, Monday).
The latter assertion
ignores the fact that two millennia of Christian consensus, reflected both in
Scripture and historical creeds, unite both Catholics and Protestants around
core truths that include the Trinity, the unique deity of Christ, and the
opportunity for new and eternal life with God through Christ's redemptive love
and sacrificial death. The fact that Mormon leaders do not share this
orthodox Christian consensus calls for discernment rather than discrimination.
As to "declaring a
religious test for political purposes," even typically pragmatic Americans
consider a presidential candidate's personal faith relevant, for we recognize
that a worldview can guide decisions. Americans have learned much about faith
and politics by observing the policies of many faith-professing presidents from
Washington to Lincoln to Bush and Obama.
Each of these
presidents professed, along with the founders, the self-evident truths
"that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness." Yet how and whether each president actually
implemented those truths in public policy--consider slavery and abortion, for
example--has varied greatly.
What matters in
politics is the same thing that matters in the Christian faith--it's not just
what you say you believe, but what you prove you believe by your actions.
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