McChurch - Passing the Litmus Test of Faith

Critics target Romney's Mormonism

By Jason Spencer - Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Friday, May 11, 2007 - Web Link

McChurch is at it again – practicing the presence of the Devil in the presence of Jesus…

What a shame that anyone willing to put their personal life on the line for our nation has to endure the kind of bigotry that was ended at Calvary…Imagine a world in which an evangelical President would lie to the American people about WMD’s and then cover those lies with new spins of such nonsense as exporting freedom and democracy and ridding the world of certain, convenient and select thugs…

Imagine a world in which an evangelical President would foster chaos in the Middle East in order to accelerate the coming of Jesus…Imagine a world in which an evangelical President would hide behind the troops instead of facing the music…

Seems like it might be better to have an honest Mormon in the Oval Office…

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

Less than a week before the Republican presidential primary debate in Columbia, a wave of anti-Mormon literature has hit select South Carolina mailboxes.

The literature does not mention former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by name, but is an indirect attack on him. Romney, considered by many to be one of the three GOP front-runners despite polling low, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The eight-page diatribe is titled "Mormons in Contemporary American Society: A Politically Dangerous Religion?"

It calls Mormon texts "hoaxes" and labels church founder Joseph Smith a "gold digger turned prophet."

It also calls Smith the "Mohammed of the West," stating that "Like the prophet of Islam, Smith founded his religion upon prophecies and revelations which commanded him to become a polygamist and warlord. Many centuries apart, these two men became the focal point of large religions that blurred the lines between religion, war, domestic life and politics."

Gary Towery, a GOP activist who is leaning toward supporting Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's campaign, said he was "appalled" to find the letter in his mailbox.

"It's an attack on Romney," Towery said. "The fact that the man is Mormon doesn't make any difference to me. He's got strong family values. He's a good candidate. But there's two or three other good candidates in there at this point."

The literature apparently is targeting a specific group of people, Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram said.

They are unsigned and have no return address but are postmarked Providence, R.I. No group is identified as having paid for them.

"When somebody sends this stuff out anonymously, and spends the money to know where they're sending it to, it comes across as pretty poor that they wouldn't want to identify themselves," Beltram said.

Beltram has been accused of being a Romney supporter, though he repeatedly denies those claims.

"The better (Romney) does, you'll see more of this," Beltram said. "As his poll numbers go up, it will get real hot."

More to come

The literature is the latest sign that Romney's opponents - whether political, religious or some other group - will use his faith against him during the primary contest.

E-mail attacks, for instance, have been common for months.

Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College, pointed out that Republican candidates, on the surface, are still trying to be nice to one another.

"The closer we get to the primary, then some of the attacks are really going to come," Wolfe said. "You saw some pretty ugly attacks in South Carolina on the McCain forces. If someone can distribute pamphlets saying that someone has illegitimate children, imagine what they can do with a religion that has a history of polygamy."

Terry Sullivan, who is running Romney's South Carolina campaign, said he knew of "a handful" of people around the state who have received the latest batch of attacks against his candidate.

"I think that kind of stuff backfires on folks," Sullivan said. "It's bigotry. It's negative, anonymous attacks. It's nothing new and it hasn't worked so far. Mitt Romney's support continues to grow in South Carolina and across the country."

Romney has faced a consistent, slow rise of attacks, on all sorts of fronts - from his faith, to his stand on certain issues, to everything in between, Sullivan said.

He downplayed the fact that there is a GOP debate Tuesday in Columbia.

"It doesn't really let up, so I don't think it's a timing issue as much as it is consistent. There's always something right around the corner," Sullivan said. "It is a testament to the attraction that Mitt Romney's getting."

Following Romney's speech at Regent University, a Christian school founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah ran an extensive article stating Romney's religion appears to be taking a back seat in his campaign.

While Mormons consider themselves Christians, some Christians consider Mormonism to be a cult. The Tribune highlighted Romney's acceptance while appealing to the next generation of Christian professionals.

"A lot of people jump to the wrong conclusion about Mormons, that they are way outside the mainstream. Do they have different religious views? Sure. That's why we have different religious groups," Clemson University political science professor Laura Olson said.

"If he's really going to make any noise to get the nomination, he's got to be able to play the values card. He's a person of strong faith. It might not be the same faith that evangelical voters practice here in South Carolina, but he needs to make them see that he's got the credentials that value-voters look for. It's going to be more difficult for (Rudy) Giuliani, and even (John) McCain."

'Fair game'

Less than one-half of 1 percent of all Mormon adherents can be found in South Carolina. However, the three counties with the largest Mormon population are Greenville, Lexington and Spartanburg - the three key counties in any Republican race.

Olson said Mormons also are more "reliably Republican" at the polls than evangelical voters.

"A very small number of voters can determine these elections," Boston College's Wolfe said. "You have many candidates and relatively light turnout. So, it only takes a few thousand people to switch. And if a small number of Southern Baptists can do that in South Carolina, it's going to hurt Mitt Romney."

Fox News is hosting the debate Tuesday.

Romney's religion "is fair game for a debate. We may ask that," said Marty Ryan, executive producer of political programming for Fox News. "There's the issue of what the pope said about abortion and Catholic politicians, and that might come up. So, I think religion is a good topic."

Jason Spencer can be reached at 562-7214 or jason.spencer@shj.com.