Religious Bigotry Has No Place In American Politics

In the Gallup poll conducted between Feb. 9-11, voters were asked if they would be willing to cast their votes for a "generally well-qualified" candidate with the following characteristics. Their responses were as follows: Black 94 percent; Jewish 92 percent; A woman 88 percent; Hispanic 87 percent; Mormon 72 percent.

Twenty eight percent unwilling to vote for a Mormon? To see religious bigotry, whether it is against my religion or yours, prevalent in our society is shocking, offensive and hurtful. There it is out in the open - raw prejudice. So people judge me or people of my faith based on preconceived notions. Is there anything in my faith that would make me a less qualified leader than my fellow citizens?

This poll mirrors what other polls including the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll released July 3, 2006 have found - there is distinct and pervasive prejudice against voting for a Mormon - a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) - in a presidential election. This is politically significant because a LDS church member, Mitt Romney, is one of the leading candidates for president of the United States.

Personal history. I have been blessed in partnership with my wife to have raised our family circumstances from a background of poverty into a middle class lifestyle and position of influence in society. This is a great country. I haven’t felt discrimination has held me back.

I have had a career in counseling people about their lives, marriages, families and businesses. I’ve done this living in North and South Dakota, highly religious states with comparatively few Mormon adherents. I have written a syndicated weekly column circulating in Midwestern states for over 23 years. I have been scrupulous in my ethics not use my positions of influence to proselytize people to my faith.

I have stood for family values, loving marriages, dedicated parenthood, community participation, personal spirituality and good citizenship. I have not taken the opportunity to write against abortion or homosexuality. I have used research to write about the evils of pornography, gambling, cohabitation, domestic abuse, addictions of all sorts, materialism and the coarsening of American culture.

I have tried to be sensitive to the rights and feelings of others. I hope I haven’t offended anyone’s faith or belief system in my writings. I purposely refrained from writing an article on religious abuse because what may be one person cult is another’s faith. There are good and bad people in all faiths. I believe that any domineering use of religious authority over people’s right to choose is wrong.

People have trusted and accepted me, both personally and professionally. I have encountered overt religious bigotry only on a few occasions. Covertly I can’t say how this has played out. When Gallop Poll results show religious bigotry against Mormons, it makes me wonder what I haven’t seen. I have no idea how many people chose not to see me on the basis of religious affiliation or what opportunities were screened out.

Christian bigots - an oxymoron? I can take the intellectual pundits scoffing and sneering at the religious

right and at Mormons - they are equal opportunity cynics. However when so-called Christians engage in bigotry, it hurts. It hurts because they are not living up to their Christian ideals.

How can you tell if a person is really a Christian - a true follower of Jesus Christ? It is by the way they treat other people. Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of the skin but by the content of their character." He could have just as easily have said, "not be judged by their faith or creed".

Judge my children by the content of their character and by how they treat other people. Don’t limit their opportunities because of their faith.

Ignorance. Perhaps this prejudice may be caused by a lack of knowledge. I hope so.

Members of our church are not told how to vote or who to vote for. We support the rule of law in whatever country we live. Our leaders do not tell elected officials what to do. We respect the civil rights of all citizens.

Jon Huntsman, the prominent Utah businessman and philanthropist, supports Mitt Romney for President. His son, the governor of Utah, supports John McCain. Harry Reid is LDS and is the majority leader of the Democratic party in the Senate. There is no religious orthodoxy or prescriptive political path for LDS politicians to follow.

There no reason to fear that someone who is sworn to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States would violate the principle of separation of church and state. And nothing in the LDS faith would compel him or her to do that.

I echo Dr. King eloquent plea, "When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands..."

In a day and age when we as a people are willing to fairly consider a "generally qualified" black person or a woman for president, a Jew or Gentile, a Protestant or Catholic, couldn’t we add a Mormon to that list?