Word: religion
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...catholic, I found that the article spiritually validated the notion that doubt is inherent in the human condition and serves as the fundamental catalyst that propels altruistic greatness. Mother Teresa's struggle with honest skepticism is a refreshing alternative to the hypocrisy that is so prevalent in organized religion today and has only increased my fondness and affection for her. Gerd R. Naydock Wynnewood, Pennsylvania...
What exactly should we worry about? Most important, we need to know what forms of conduct a candidate's religion forbids or requires and how the candidate interprets that injunction. Is it a universal moral imperative or just a personal lifestyle choice? Every religion has its list of no-nos. Mormonism's is very long and includes alcohol, coffee, tea and such forms of sexual behavior as "passionate kissing" outside wedlock. If Romney's church doctrines require efforts to impose these restrictions on others, Romney has a Cuomo problem: he cannot be a good Mormon and a good President...
...back, editor Jacob Weisberg called Joseph Smith, Mormonism's founder, an "obvious con man" and wrote, "Romney has every right to believe in con men, but I want to know if he does, and if so, I don't want him running the country." Thus a third argument that religion can't be a private affair for a presidential candidate: what a person deeply believes says something about his or her character, which voters may wish to take into account. Deeply religious people may find a candidate's ability to make that "leap of faith" admirable or even essential...
Proceed with caution here, of course. Every religion is full of doctrines and beliefs that may seem nutty to outsiders. Jesus could be seen as a snake-oil salesman if you don't buy the snake oil. Weisberg says Mormonism is different because it is so "recent," involving miraculous events in the 19th century in upstate New York. Well, I dunno. The patina of age may explain why Jesus' walking on water is easier to believe than Smith's golden plates and magic glasses. But it doesn't go far in justifying the distinction. For me, any candidate who believes...
Above all, we need to see some struggle. Precisely because all religious doctrines are hard to believe, believers and nonbelievers alike have an interest in how a candidate who claims to be deeply religious deals with religion's improbabilities. It will be amusing if Romney is done in by a fear of his religious values because, as near as we can tell, he has no values of any sort that he wouldn't happily abandon if they became a burden. But in politics, you are who you pretend...