Romney's Overbroad Claims

I have a few comments on Romney’s speech. Romney said, “A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith. . . . I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it.” The first sentence of the quotation seems plainly overstated. If the religious views espoused by a candidate are considered relevant to government and are opposed by a voter, the voter rightly can vote against the candidate. This has nothing to do with toleration. The government must tolerate religions; citizens need not vote for candidates holding ideologies they oppose, religious or not, though they may at the same time believe that the government should not discriminate against those holding such ideologies.

 

 Romney also says, “There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church's distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution.” This quotation embraces the same mistake. The test clause applies to government; it does not apply to the grounds that citizens employ in voting.

 I say this not to encourage voting against Romney, or to imply anything about the goodness or badness of the Mormon faith. The question does not even arise for me. I belong to the Working Families Party in
New York and will likely vote for whatever candidate is nominated by the Democrats.