In the current presidential election race, one of the most
commonly discussed, nay, debated topics is, of course, the religious views of
Mitt Romney. If he is elected President
of the United States, he will become the first Mormon president the country has
ever had in office, as you probably well know.
Should that be something that will hold back our votes for Romney? In my opinion it is most certainly not.
The U.S. has always had a president who has at least
claimed to be Christian or even been active in a church of some denomination. For most Americans, it is the
common view that this “tradition” should continue. But is that something that we should base our
votes on solely? The reason a President
is elected is so that they can do what is in the best interests of our country
and our citizens; or at least do a “less bad” job than that “other guy.” Is this role not something that can be
fulfilled by people of different faiths and races? President Obama, while not being the most
popular president in history, has shown that he is at least capable of keeping
our country relatively well off. He even goes so far as to claim that the economy is better than it has been in a while. He did
this as the first African-American President of the U.S. A Mormon may be able to do just as well of a
job as a Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or any other denomination.
I feel that the religion of the President, or in this case
the presidential candidate, should be less of an important issue than their
projected policies and stances on actually important issues. According to the recent Republican Primaries,
it appears that the American public has leaned towards my take on the
presidential candidates. Mitt Romney has
won several of the primaries including Nevada, New Hampshire, and Iowa. This is a step in the right direction to a time where the President is elected, or at least not not elected, for his religion.
I agree that no president should be kicked to the curb for their religion. Presidents are suppose to be picked for what they can do to better our nation as a whole and if that potential president happens to be a Mormon then so be it. The people of the United States may want to continue with a "tradition" of having Christians as our presidents but from where I stand, things really have not gotten better down that road, so maybe it is time for something new. Maybe with him being a Mormon, he will have different views on topics that Christians would not have thought of. Either way just because he is a Mormon in no way should effect any one person's vote.
ReplyDeleteMarshall, I like your post and I agree with your comments on Romney and religion. While my faith is very important to me, I don't think it's appropriate to not vote for someone because of a different religion. At the same time, I don't want to vote for someone because he/she grew up in the same kind of church as I did. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs, so why should that freedom prevent some from being leaders in our country? I think that religious beliefs should be considered when we look at the morals of that person but overall it should be a less important issue in selecting the future President.
ReplyDeleteVery Nice article, and I agree with you on this one. Judging the President by their religion makes little sense, because at the end of the day, very little of what they end up doing is related to religion. Their main task is to govern the country, not lead us in religious practices. I'm not saying that I'm going to vote for Romney, but I'm definitely saying that I'm not going to not vote for him based off of his practicing the Mormon faith. I hope that come election time, the American population can do so as well, and make the decision to put the best suited candidate in office, not the one that fits the "tradition" that you talked about the best.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Marshall that religion should in no way affect our vote for our president. In the requirements for president, religion is not specified. While our country as a whole may have some misconceptions about Mormons, this shouldn't affect our view of one man. I do have a hard time believing that he will not be the butt of jokes due to his religion, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will not be voted for president. America hasn't taken a while to change its ways, but I feel as though we have changed more than ever in these last few years with more to come. I think that we should vote for the best candidate out there, Mormon or not. Nicely written article.
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