There's a piece at FreeRepublic.com getting a lot of notice. Originally posted at OpinionEditorials.com, it disputes the idea that Gov. Mitt Romney (R.-Mass.) could never be president of the United States because of his religious beliefs. Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has been under quite the fire lately as journalists, looking for a Romney story, find someone, anyone willing to give out their opinion on "the Mormons."
Day after day some newspaper somewhere decides to run the same old tired story about unannounced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, declaring that a Mormon could never be elected president because the evangelical Christians would never support him. The first thing to remember is that some reporters have nothing original to report, so they regurgitate the same story many others have already written. It's easy to pick on the Mormons, so why not jump on the band wagon?
Any reporter in any city or town can simply start making phone calls to ministers and within a very short time it will be easy to find one or more who will be happy to bash the Mormons. All that reporter has to do is jot down a few of the more critical comments and bingo, another negative story is born.
There's just one problem. The vast majority of Americans do not believe such reports for one simple reason - they are not true and we all know it. Mormons are everywhere, and most people have encountered them enough to know the claims that Mormons are not Christian and are actually quite evil cannot possibly be true. But it is no surprise that some rival church leaders complain about a church that actively proselytes new members, which is a threat to the offering plates of the churches who lose members as a result.
And as the article points out, these "Mormons" are totally mislabeled:
Take a look around. There are Mormons everywhere. Actually, they are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those who claim they are not Christians apparently missed the name of the church.
I'm not advocating Romney for president at this point and time but I do think the reporter makes a very compelling point - and that is, Mormons are about as Christian as they come. And if Christian belief is what keeps a good man from the presidency, then America's claim to be "one nation under God" has become no more than some ink printed on its currency.
