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{"id":2246,"date":"2012-03-27T12:17:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T12:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/03\/how-romney-could-transcend-mormonism-with-civil-religion.html"},"modified":"2012-03-27T12:17:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-27T12:17:00","slug":"how-romney-could-transcend-mormonism-with-civil-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/03\/how-romney-could-transcend-mormonism-with-civil-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"How Romney could transcend Mormonism with civil religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

by Dan Birdsong<\/p>\n

There has been a deliberate and concerted effort on the part of the Mitt Romney campaign, even before it officially began, to divert attention from the presidential candidate\u2019s Mormonism<\/a> by attempting to connect with primary voters by talking about a shared civil religion. But to be effective Romney must take this strategy much further.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s civil religion? It\u2019s patriotism\u2019s kissing cousin. It\u2019s a kind of deeper version of nationalistic pride. It is an effort to link patriotism to morality and virtue. Think the phrase \u201cGod and country,\u201d or the solemn reverence so many Americans have for our nation\u2019s founding documents.<\/p>\n

Romney puts himself at a disadvantage to his rivals and past presidents because he cannot, or is unwilling to, seamlessly link his faith to his patriotism.<\/p>\n

Such a strategy would enhance what media types call his \u201cpersonal narrative\u201d and would go a long way toward forging a strong emotional connection with voters. Here\u2019s how he can do it:
Read the rest here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"