Michael Gerson makes an excellent point in the Washington Post on what is significant about Mitt Romney's Mormonism -- and how it should unite him with, rather than divide him from, religious conservatives.

Many Christians have serious problems with Mormon theology on personal salvation and the nature of history -- disputes that go much deeper than those between, say, Baptists and Presbyterians. These disagreements are theologically important. But they are not politically important, because they are unrelated to governing.

Romney, however, should not make Kennedy's mistake and assert that all religious beliefs are unrelated to politics. What Mormonism shares with other religious traditions is a strong commitment to the value and dignity of human beings, including the unborn, the disabled and the poor. This conviction is unavoidably political, because it leads men and women to act in the cause of justice, not in order to impose their religion, but to protect the weak.

Given this common ground, evangelicals and other religious conservatives should not disqualify Romney from the outset. There may be other reasons to oppose him for president, but his belief about the destiny of the soul is not one of them.

Indeed, that point is critical -- and it is important to avoid the Kennedy trap of trivializing the importance of religious beliefs in the lives of religious believers.

Posted by: Greg at 02:52 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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