Religion, for the most part, is a good thing for society and our government. There is no better measuring stick for personal character than a person’s stated beliefs. The benefit of publicly expressed religion in politics is that it invites hypocrisy. Perhaps the only good thing about hypocrisy is that it’s discernable.
A candidate who openly professes devotion to a religion, regardless of which one it is, allows voters to judge a candidate’s words, affiliations, and actions according to a defined moral code. Religion is an invaluable tool when combined with a political history in determining a candidate’s conviction to his political ideology. But to select or dismiss a person for President of the United States solely on the basis of religion is, with only one exception, irresponsible, reckless and thoughtlessly un-American.
A recent roundtable discussion of Mitt Romney’s presidential aspirations has jeopardized a friendship on the web. Strangely enough, I’m not sure exactly what I said that transformed me from “one of the most un-sheep like, intelligent individuals I know” into “a bigoted piece of fish-stink.” About the only thing I am certain of is that this man’s desire to uplift a fellow Mormon, Mitt Romney, was the cause for my transformation.
Having lived in Arizona nearly two decades I’ve come to known many Mormons. My respect for the Mormon religion is rooted in a longtime association with one individual in particular who has exemplified unflinching personal character and integrity. To me, any religion capable of producing such a seemingly righteous man, in these sordid times, has my respect.
But my respect for one Mormon does not entitle Mitt Romney to my vote for President of the United States in 2008. Nor does one man’s righteousness or integrity bestow an equal measure of righteousness or integrity to anyone else – especially a politician.
Apparently contemporary Americans, liberals and conservatives alike, have forgotten the purpose of voting almost as completely as they have forgotten the purpose of American government. Voting is not a popularity contest. It’s not about who has the best hair, who is most articulate, who dresses nicest, who’s the cleanest, who is most feminine, who is the right shade of black, who tours the talk show circuit the most, or which millionaire best presents himself as more understanding of the plight of the middle class. Voting isn’t about religious affiliations, abortion rights, universal medicine, oil prices, space exploration, gun rights, entitlements, tough love, or social security.
Voting is about which candidate is best suited to preserve, uphold, and carry forward the nation’s laws, traditions, and heritage to future generations. It’s about which candidate is going to respect the limitations set on government by the people of the United States and faithfully carry out the nations business with complete fidelity and loyalty to the American people. Voting is about determining which candidate has the best ideas for maintaining America’s economic and military superiority without jeopardizing her identity as a unique people on this earth.
To vote for Mitt Romney solely because he’s a Mormon is equivalent to a black person voting for Barack Obama simply because he’s black, or a woman voting for Hillary Clinton simply because she’s a woman, or a veteran voting for John McCain simply because he’s a veteran. It’s absurd. Conversely anyone not voting for a candidate solely on the basis of their religion, color, sex, or affiliation is doing a disservice to our heritage and our nation.
Until such time that Americans cease to pigeonhole their voting to individual issues, this nation’s government will forever be populated by elitist power craving millionaires bent on the political payback of their benefactors regardless of their duty to the American people. This type of voting stupidity has transformed the Democrat party into a socialist movement; it’s what elected the globalists who permitted the passive invasion of the United States by millions of Mexican nationals. Why are NAFTA, CAFTA, and TAFTA being allowed to erode the American economy? Since when is the “Common Good” a justifiable reason to remove individual liberties and infringe upon property rights? Why there is not enough electricity to offset the summer’s heat in the wealthiest most technologically advanced nation on earth? Why isn’t there already a viable alternative to fossil fuels? Why do foreign powers have greater influence in the daily decisions of American government than the American people? Slipshod voting based on hype, promises of entitlement, and a genuine lack of concern is destroying this country.
Perhaps more frightening than the realization that we only have ourselves to blame for the condition of American government, is the reality that we continue to look to the very charlatan’s who are destroying this country to reverse America’s social and political decline.
Our Founding Fathers knew that power corrupts as surely as they recognized Europe’s ravenous desire to feast on America’s prosperity. It’s why they placed the ultimate authority to preserve freedom in the hands of the American people. But they couldn't know that one day their children wouldn’t value the freedom and independence they struggled so hard to wrench from England. They had no way of knowing that their offspring would wield the power of the vote so casually that the masses would risk the very essence of the great experiment -freedom and liberty- to be taken care of from the cradle to grave.
It is the paternal obligation of every American voter to scrutinize anyone seeking political power regardless of their religion or their stance on one or two issues. Future generations of Americans depend on today’s voters to elect people that will preserve the Union, respect our cultural tradition, and resist the temptation to reason the Constitution away from its original intent-- “Provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and provide the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.“
Without true American leadership, committed to what best serves the American people, the very can-do, rugged, individualist spirit that made America the most influential and prosperous country on earth, in a mere 224 years, will eventually be lost. Americans need to rediscover how to vote wisely -for the good of the entire nation - before their uninformed, lackadaisical, myopic attitude relinquishes their right to vote at all.