COMMENTARY | Just four short years ago, the American people were discussing whether or not the country was ready for a minority president. After the election produced President Obama as the winner, that question was answered. Now, with the presidential race heating up, the new question on the tip of every American tongue is whether or not we are ready for a Mormon president in Mitt Romney. Despite Romney's flip flopping attitude on topics like abortion and insults to the working class, it may be his religion that prevents him from being elected the next president of the United States.
How Are Mormons Viewed by the American People?
The Mormon Church has received a lot of attention regarding gay rights, including several documentaries on the church's involvement with the overturn of Prop 8 in California, so the gay vote is out of the question for Romney.
There is a history of negativity toward interracial marriages, though the "new" Mormon Church claims interracial marriage is acceptable today. It is thought that the church's position on interracial marriage focuses more on the fact that marriage is hard and interracial marriage is harder, so the church does not necessarily oppose interracial marriage; rather, the church supports making the best choice so the marriage does not fail. Unless an interracial couple is Mormon, I doubt Mitt Romney will get the interracial vote.
Some previous Mormons attest to blatant racism occurring in the teachings of the Mormon Church. According to one report, children of the church were taught that "mixing your blood with the seed of cain (blacks) was [punishable by]…death by stoning." I doubt Mitt Romney will be earning the African-American vote.
Who's Left to Vote for Mitt Romney?
There are between four and seven million Mormons living in the United States with most estimates falling around six million. Of those six million people many are bound to know someone who's gay, in an interracial relationship or African-American. Still more must be friends with people who support a woman's right to choose and despise the fact that the Mormon Church has immeasurable influential power over government, as was the case with Prop 8. How do these people vote for Mitt Romney when the very religion he professes promotes hatred, segregation and racism? No American with any sense of humanity can honestly vote for a presidential candidate of the Mormon faith based on the history and actions of the Mormon Church. Moreover, would the American people be voting for Mitt Romney or would the Mormon Church with its limitless money, iron-clad anti-Christian values and strong-armed political influence be earning the spot as the next president of the United States?
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