E-Mail
Print
| (CBS News) Mitt Romney and his supporters have rarely mentioned Romney's Mormon faith on the campaign trail, despite the central role it has played in the candidate's life. That's not likely to change when Romney delivers his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention | |||
|
"I don't expect to hear the word Mormon," said Max Perry Mueller, associate editor of Religion & Politics Romney, who was at one time the top Mormon authority in the Boston area, said in a 2007 speech that "I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it."
But in his 2012 presidential run, Romney has played down the specifics of his beliefs. Speaking at evangelical Liberty University in May, Romney did not utter the M word. The Republican convention in Tampa is a chance for Romney to tell his life story. His faith is a big part of that story: Romney has served as a church pastor, spent two years as a Mormon missionary. Romney has somewhat opened the door to a focus on his faith in recent days. But while there has been speculation that Romney will "embrace" his faith at the convention, a Republican familiar with convention plans says that the focus will be on Romney's success as a businessman
Mormonism won't be completely absent:There are plans for a Mormon to deliver an invocation or benediction. But it is almost certain that this figure will not be a prominent official with the Church but rather a Mormon politician like Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz. |
At the 2008 Republican convention, nominee John McCain avoided discussion of religion. But religion has loomed large at previous Republican presidential conventions. In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush peppered his acceptance speeches with religious references, including his 2004 claim that freedom is "the almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world."
The focus in these speeches was broadly on shared Christian beliefs, not the potentially-alienating details of a specific faith. "As an evangelical and a conservative I have more in common with most Mormons than I do with a liberal southern Baptist, for example," DeMoss said, pointing to Democrats Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and Bill Clinton. "I think when we frame it in those terms, people are more understanding and accepting." Mueller said that while he does not expect to hear the word Mormon, he does expect there will be some focus on faith. It just won't be the faith to which Romney belongs.
"I do think we'll hear about Paul Ryan's Catholicism -- you'll hear the word Catholic much more than you hear references to Mormonism," he said.
"When Romney talks about it, he'll just say 'my faith,'" he said. "And then refer to how it informs his views on traditional marriage and on contraception and abortion." |
|
|
Mitt Romney says part of the reason he does not want to release more of this tax returns is that he believes his tithing to the Mormon Church is a private matter.
"Our church doesn't publish how much people have given," Romney is reportedly quoted as saying in the forthcoming edition of Parade magazine.
"This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one's financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It's a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church."
Despite strong pressure from Democrats, Romney has released only his 2010 tax returns and an estimate of his 2011 returns.
Over those two years, Romney and his wife Ann gave more than $4 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, on slightly more than $40 million in income. Mormons in good standing are expected to donate, or tithe, at least 10 percent of their yearly income to the church.
In addition, a charity created and funded by the Romneys called the Tyler Charitable Foundation gave the church another $4.8 million, according to the Tribune.
In the Parade interview, Ann Romney reportedly says that she "loves" tithing and cries when she gives the check. The comment prompted Mitt Romney to quip: "So do I, but for a different reason."
"It teaches us not to be too, too tied to the things of the world," Ann Romney told the magazine. "And it is a very good reminder of how blessed we really are, and most of those blessings do not come from a financial source, but from the power above."
Romney has estimated his net worth at up to a quarter billion dollars.
Romney Opens Up On Religion.. Sort of
VIDEO: NBC's Rock Center on Mormons in America
AUDIO: Jeff Benedict, author of "The Mormon Way of Business"
MItt Romney's Relgious Life
Forget the Mormon moment; it's about Catholics
Forget the Mormon moment. The religious group figuring most prominently in the election now is the Roman Catholic Church.
No coffee, but coffee ice cream OK for Romney
Mitt Romney joins other observant Mormon in shunning alcohol and coffee. He apparently draws the line at ice cream.
Ann Romney proudly owns stay-at-home mom image
To the yearbook editors at the all-girl Kingswood School, Ann Lois Davies' destiny seemed pretty obvious.
Trying to see into the heart of the GOP candidate
Long before Romney became the candidate from Massachusetts, he was his father's son, weeding the garden in a suburb of Detroit where he grew up. He hated the chore. But he idolized the man who made him do it - George Romney, the outspoken, no-nonsense, auto executive turned politician.
Romney Opening Up About His Religion, Just A Little Bit
Mitt Romney is starting to open up a bit more about his lifelong commitment to Mormonism and his lay leadership in the church, following pleas from backers who say that talking about his faith could help him overcome his struggles to connect with voters.
"Who shares your values?" a recent Romney ad asked - suggesting that the Republican presidential candidate was the answer. "When religious freedom is threatened, who do you want to stand with?"
The commercial was the start of a broader Romney effort to emphasize values and religion as he courts undecided voters - in a nation where most people say they want a president with strong religious beliefs - to compete with President Barack Obama in a race that polls show is close. Romney invited reporters to Mormon chapel services with his family last Sunday in New Hampshire. And he has asked a fellow Mormon to give an invocation before he addresses the Republican National Convention next week.
Romney is the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party, and highlighting his faith carries risks, given that many Americans view Mormonism skeptically.
Even so, a small group of supporters and Republicans have long said the benefits could outweigh the drawbacks. They contend that Romney, whose attempts to reach voters on a personal level often fall flat, could help people get to know him better by highlighting this core part of his life.
Michael Gerson, who was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, wrote that Romney could "inject some authenticity- or at least some personality - into his campaign" by talking about his faith. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that a majority of people who know that Romney is Mormon are comfortable with his religion or don't consider it a concern.
Philip Barlow, a Mormon historian at Utah State University who worked alongside Romney when he was bishop in Belmont, Mass., said that trying to understand Romney without Mormonism would be like "watching a football game with half the players invisible."
"It's an essential strain to know, but it's so easily caricatured, more easily than the influence of his schooling and his family," Barlow said.
Philip Barlow, a Mormon historian at Utah State University who worked alongside Romney when he was bishop in Belmont, Mass., said that trying to understand Romney without Mormonism would be like "watching a football game with half the players invisible."
"It's an essential strain to know, but it's so easily caricatured, more easily than the influence of his schooling and his family," Barlow said.
|
Mormonism is both a belief system and an all-encompassing way of life that stresses hard work and volunteerism along with religious observance. The 10 percent annual tithe they pay the church is only a start to what they're expected to donate. Latter-day Saints commit several hours a week to serving in the church, in addition to their careers and family obligations. |
The former Massachusetts governor is from a prominent Mormon family, has donated millions to his church and has volunteered countless hours to the Mormon community and others.
Yet, Romney has never been comfortable talking about his faith, and he has spoken only in the broadest terms about religion. His reticence has been understandable even though he's never explained it. Americans generally know little about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and often what they do know comes from critics. Every candidate, no matter his or her faith, has to weigh just how much to talk about God. So Romney is treading carefully.
In a commencement address earlier this year at Liberty University, the evangelical school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Romney referred to "people of different faiths, like yours and mine, `' but he never used the word Mormon. He also never talked about Mormonism when he quoted the Apostle Paul and spoke of the "comfort of a living God" in a statement of sympathy to the victims of the Aurora, Colo., shooting rampage.
"It seems that, by taking the nation to church with him, Governor Romney is letting his religion speak for itself through its actual practices. For Mormonism, that has always been the better way to respond to fears that it is a cult or somehow not Christian," said Kathleen Flake, a historian of American religion at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. "The complications come when we try to explain the why of how we worship."
With less than three months until the election, both Romney and Obama are facing increasing questions about their faith.
Both responded for a story published Tuesday in the Washington National Cathedral magazine, Cathedral Age.
Romney wrote that he was "lay pastor in my church" but didn't use the word Mormon or name the church anywhere in his answers. Asked to address uneasiness about his faith, Romney responded, "Every religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These should not be bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance."
|
Related Audio From WBEN's Hardline Sunday Politics Program Jeff Benedict, Author "The Mormon Way of Business" |
In a Pew survey last month, only 49 percent of respondents could correctly identify Obama as Christian. A third of voters said they don't know his religion. Meanwhile, the percentage who wrongly think he's Muslim has increased since 2008, from 12 percent to 17 percent.
"There's not much I can do about it. I have a job to do as president and that does not involve convincing folks that my faith in Jesus is legitimate and real," Obama wrote in his answers to Cathedral Age. "What I can do is just keep on following Him, and serve others."
|
|
|
|
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy |
|
|
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy |
|
|
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy |
The single-topic "Rock Center" episode aired Thursday as originally planned, said the show's executive producer, Rome Hartman.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, will be the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party, and his campaign has generally resisted talking about his faith.
But Romney last weekend invited reporters to Mormon chapel services with his family, and a new campaign ad touted him as a defender of religious freedom.
The newsmagazine's producers thought it worthwhile to examine the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the eve of one of its members becoming the Republican nominee for president.
During the hour, correspondent Harry Smith does a piece on why Mormons are so successful in business and tours a Salt Lake City warehouse where a huge amount of supplies is kept for the needy. Snow profiles a gay person, a feminist and an interracial couple on their experiences within the church.
"What we set out to do very broadly is not an hour on Mitt Romney but an hour about the religion that has played a very important role in shaping who he is," Hartman said Wednesday.
Mitt Romney's Religious Life
Like most young Mormon men, Romney served for more than two years as an LDS missionary in France. Then, starting in the 1980s, he spent about 14 years as a volunteer Mormon leader in Massachusetts.
He was a bishop in the Boston suburb of Belmont, a job akin to the pastor of a congregation. He then served as a stake president, the top Mormon authority in his region, which meant he presided over several congregations in a district similar to a diocese. He counseled Latter-day Saints on their most personal concerns, regarding marriage, parenting, finances and faith. He worked with immigrant converts from Haiti, Cambodia and other countries.
But the former governor wasn't a clergy person in a way familiar to most Americans. Mormons have no fulltime paid clergy and are led by lay people, a distinction that Mormons have had to explain to outsiders more familiar with Roman Catholic or Protestant ministers
His tenure as bishop was not without controversy. He held local authority at a time when Mormon women were seeking a greater church role, and he sometimes clashed with them over social issues and personal decisions about children and family.
Pictured Above: Stained Glass of the Sacred Grove, in the Hill; Cumorah Visitor Center, Palmyra NY, where Mormons believe Prophet Joseph Smith was given the golden plates which he translated into The Book of Mormon, the basic scripture for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Below: From ABC News: Inside Mormon Temples and Secret Rites
