Mitt Romney can't have it both ways. Either a person's religion is relevant or it's not. But Romney can't say, as he did during the 2008 elections, that he wouldn't choose a Muslim as a cabinet secretary, and then turn around and say please don't discuss whether we should chose a Mormon as president. Either a person's religion is relevant or its not. And Romney clearly thinks it is relevant when the religion is Islam. So why isn't it relevant when it's Mormonism?
From the Christian Science Monitor:
I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, "…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration."I'm surprised this didn't come up much during the recent brouhaha about one of Rick Perry's top religious supporters calling Mormonism a cult. Romney's attitude towards Islam is pretty much the same as this pastor's attitude towards Mormonism. Both are judging a potential politician's appointment to a senior government job based on their faith.
Romney, whose Mormon faith has become the subject of heated debate in Republican caucuses, wants America to be blind to his religious beliefs and judge him on merit instead. Yet he seems to accept excluding Muslims because of their religion, claiming they're too much of a minority for a post in high-level policymaking. More ironic, that Islamic heritage is what qualifies them to best engage America's Arab and Muslim communities and to help deter Islamist threats.
This seems to be a central tenet of Mormonism: Please leave me alone while I attack you. Whether it's the innocent settlers the Mormons massacred back in 1857, after the Mormons had fled being massacred themselves in the midwest, or the Mormons' treatment of gays today (the Mormons have invested millions of dollars over the past two decades in passing legislation taking away the civil rights of gay Americans while at the same time public bemoaning America's ambivalence towards Mormons, and publicly criticizing gays for having a problem with the Mormons' multi-million dollar anti-gay activism). Look at the way Mormons treated blacks. Look at the way Mormons continue to treat Jews. It's a fascinating history of religious and political aggression from a people who constantly demand the right to be left alone.
Perhaps Americans would leave the Mormons alone if the Mormons would start leaving us alone. Mitt Romney is a hypocrite for saying religion matters for a cabinet secretary but not for the presidency. If Romney says we should have a religious test for a lesser job, then he certainly must agree to having one for the highest job in the land. (Has anyone asked if Romney would be okay with a Muslim as President?)
Romney opened up this can of worms all by himself. He can't have it both ways.
