CNN: Romney: 'Freedom requires religion'
By Kristi Keck
(CNN) -- White House hopeful Mitt Romney said religious liberty "is fundamental to America's greatness," in his Thursday address on faith in America. Romney, seeking to become the first Mormon president, explained how his faith would affect his presidency in his speech at former President George H. W. Bush's presidential library. "There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders," Romney said. "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone," he said.
The former Massachusetts governor is delivering the speech to address religion's role in government but also to address concerns voters might have about the Mormon religion....The GOP contender, who had brushed off comparisons to John F. Kennedy's famous address, didn't hesitate to mention the 1960 speech. "Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president," Romney said. "Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith."...Like Kennedy, Romney told the audience that his church would not influence his presidential decisions. Romney said he did not "confuse" religion and politics as governor and he would not do it as president....
Romney avoided explaining differences in his church's beliefs and other faiths...."No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes president he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths," he said. Romney instead pointed to similarities between churches in America, saying they share a "common creed of moral convictions."
Nearly 77 percent of those questioned in an October CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said the fact that a candidate is a Mormon would not be a factor in the way they vote for president. But a significant portion -- 19 percent -- said they are less likely to vote for a Mormon. "Those who have the biggest problem supporting a Mormon are church-going and evangelical Christians -- particularly those who believe that Mormonism is not a Christian religion," (CNN's Bill) Schneider said, citing the October poll. And that also represents a large portion of the Republican base....
The Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims about 12 million adherents worldwide, roughly half of them in the United States. Followers consider themselves Christians, but elements of Mormon theology -- that the Garden of Eden was located in what is now Missouri, that a lost tribe of Israelites settled in North America and that a resurrected Jesus Christ visited them -- differ sharply from orthodox Christian belief. The church's early belief in polygamy fueled its persecution as followers migrated across the United States, but church leaders banned the practice in 1890.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/06/romney.speech/index.html
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