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Romney Tries To Allay Concerns About Religion

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By MICHAEL LUO, The New York Times

Published: December 7, 2007

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Mitt Romney asked the nation on Thursday not to reject his presidential candidacy because of his religion, assuring evangelical Christians and other religious voters that his values matched theirs in a speech that used the word "Mormon" only once.

The only passing mention of his Mormonism in his 20-minute speech at the George Bush Presidential Library underscored just how touchy the issue of Romney's faith has been since he began running for the Republican nomination.

He and his aides had agonized for months over whether even to give the speech. Those arguing against it said there was no need because he was doing so well in early voting states, advisers said.

Romney's former dominance of the Republican field in Iowa, however, is faltering as evangelical voters have been drawn to Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, in these final weeks before the state's caucuses.

Evangelical Christians, who make up a crucial voting bloc in the Republican Party, consider Mormonism to be heretical, and polls have indicated a significant number of Americans are less likely to vote for a Mormon presidential candidate.

Nevertheless, Romney said he would not distance himself from what he called "the faith of my fathers."

"I believe in my Mormon faith and endeavor to live by it," he said.

Mixed Response

Showing the fine line he was treading, he promised not to be beholden to church authorities, and devoted the majority of his address to calling for a robust role for religion in public life, declaring there was a common moral heritage across religious lines in the country that he would champion.

"I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from the God who gave us liberty," he said, drawing applause from an audience of about 300 invited guests, which included supporters and religious leaders. "Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage."

While Romney was clearly directing his message to the evangelical voters, the reaction among their leaders was mixed.

Steve Carlson, a board member of the Iowa Christian Alliance and a member of a Pentecostal church in Sioux City, said there was little Romney could have said Thursday to allay his concerns about Mormon theology and his candidacy.

Carlson had been leaning toward Huckabee, or Fred Thompson, over Romney, in large part because of problems he has with Mormonism. The speech, he said, did nothing to change that.

"He didn't sway me one way or the other," he said. "I don't know anything he could have said."

On the other hand, Oran P. Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, a Christian conservative group in South Carolina said he thought Romney's speech would break positively for him.

"He turned it into a very red meat conservative speech," he said.

Balancing Act

Romney's speech was part of a delicate balancing act in which he asserted specific religious doctrines should not matter in the voting booth, but argued that the nation's founders envisioned a prominent place for faith in the public square, a contention that was challenged after the speech by advocates for the separation of church and state.

The speech was peppered with declarations appealing to Christian conservatives about the importance of religious expression, whether in the civil rights movement, or the anti-abortion cause, although he failed to mention that he had supported abortion rights until relatively recently.

"In recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning," he said. "They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America, the religion of secularism. They are wrong."

Romney made clear he would not back away from his personal spiritual beliefs.

"Some believe such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy," he said. "If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world."

Romney, however, said it was inappropriate for a presidential candidate to be asked to explain the details of his religion.

"To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution," he said. "No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths."

He said later: "We do not insist on a single strain of religion - rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith."

Romney pointed to his public record, his governorship of Massachusetts, as proof of his independence from his church.

"I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest," he said. "A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

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