In the wake of the interesting Village Green Forum in Christianity Today’s September issue in which all three participants (Stephen Mansfield, Mollie Zieglar-Hemingway and Richard Mouw) stressed that there is nothing wrong at all with a Christian voting for a Mormon for President (though they also counseled that it’s always a matter of choosing one imperfect candidate over another imperfect candidate) they also went on to add the following reminders– Mansfield: “In the 2012 election voting for Mitt Romney– yes a Mormon former bishop– is certainly a moral option for followers of Jesus Christ. For those who want a pro-life,pro-free market, pro-business, pro-defense and ‘America first’ champion, Mitt Romney is their man. It is no sin or dishonor to vote for him, even though his Latter Day Saint religion is far from orthodox Christianity.”
Mollie Ziegler-Hemingway after reminding us that Luther once said “I’d rather be ruled by a wise Turk than by a foolish Christian” goes on to remind “Mitt Romney fully acknowledged the many distinctions between his Mormon beliefs and traditional Christianity in his May commencement address at Liberty University.” She is referring especially to this remark by Romney where he admits Mormonism and Christianity are two different faiths. Here is the direct quote—-
“People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology. Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview.” [N.B. I happen to agree with what Romney says here about making common cause even in spite of theological divides and differences, differences in faith].
Richard Mouw, who of the three has had the most extended discussions and dialogues with Mormons over the last decade concludes, and he says that nothing in those discussions would prevent him from voting for Romney for President if he were convinced he was the most able candidate for the job.
I would encourage you to Google the Romney speech at Liberty and read it. It’s a good speech, as was his convention speech. I would also encourage you to read the Village Green section from CT’s September issue and see what you think. The upshot of that forum was that all three persons said that a Christian could in good conscience vote for either Romney or Obama. Think about these things.
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