If you are concerned about Mitt and Mormonism.. A few excerpts from
Why Evangelicals Should Support Mitt Romney
By Wayne Grudem
Thursday, October 18, 2007
As an evangelical professor of Bible and theology, I have decided to support Mitt Romney for President (even though he is a Mormon) for two old-fashioned reasons: First, he is the best-qualified candidate, and second, he holds moral and political values consistent with those in the Bible.
Best-qualified: The best predictor of future performance is a person’s past track record. ... He was in the top 5 percent of his class at Harvard Business School and simultaneously in the top 1/3 of his class at Harvard Law School. He is incredibly intelligent. ... He knows how to run businesses, and what makes them profitable. This indicates a deep and also practical understanding of what kind of policies will be helpful or harmful to an economy, and second, an outstanding management ability proven in both state government and in business, which is a good predictor of ability to be an excellent President. ... He also rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. When he was brought in to run the Games he turned what was heading to a scandal-ridden financial and PR disaster into a widely-praised success. This involved massive skill in public relations, media management, diplomacy, morale building, and financial administration. This is Romney’s consistent track record: he solves large problems.
Conservative positions: Romney’s positions on social, economic, and international issues are all soundly conservative. On major issues such as protection of the unborn, a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, strong national defense and victory against radical Islamic terrorists, securing our border, a signed pledge of no tax increases, promoting school choice, and appointment of Supreme Court justices who will interpret law, not make new law, Romney holds solidly conservative positions.
What about his religion? Can evangelicals support a candidate who is politically conservative but not an evangelical Christian? Yes, certainly. In fact, it would demonstrate the falsehood of the liberal accusation that evangelicals are just trying to make this a “Christian nation” and only want evangelical Christians in office. For evangelicals to support a Mormon candidate would be similar to supporting a conservative Jewish candidate—someone we don’t consider a Christian but who comes from a religious tradition that believes in absolute moral values very similar to those that Christians learn from the Bible.
Interesting, thanks for posting this. My question is - why did Grudem make the statement? What was it in relation to?
ReplyDeleteNot sure why Grudem felt the need to issue a position paper.. maybe it was a response to all of the "Christians shouldn't vote for a Mormon" rhetoric that is out there.. of course.. I think that most theologians like to write controversial stuff :)
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Grudem left a bad taste in my mouth... and it's still there 9 years later. (I did some PR during on of the many gender neutral NIV controversies.) World magazine published an article FULL of erroneous information regarding plans to revise the NIV bible, and Grudem jumped on his ill-informed bandwagon, along with several other higher-ups in the evangelical world, and more or less slandered the good men and women on the translating committee. Thankfully, the Zondervan and IBS filed ethics charges against Word magazine, and Evangelical Press Association reprimanded them for their poor journalism.
ReplyDeleteAll that aside, Grudem said and did some hateful things to Zondervan and IBS that only an insider like me would know about. So, my opinion of him and several other "big guns" in that world isn't that high. And I plan to never work for a Christian business again... it's just too political and full of back-stabbing for my taste.
So I take his words for what they are... words. And his words don't mean too much to me. He should stick to theology, what is truly gifted at, and stay out of politics.
Thanks for the feedback Stephanie.. sound slike you are pretty well informed about his work. I am not a fan of Grudem's complementarian theology but found his thoughts to be a good response to those who are saying "Christians shouldn't vote for a Mormon". Did you disagree with any of his points on Romney?
ReplyDeleteI think he is right regarding Romney's ability to run a business. That would make him a great Chief of Staff, not a great president. Please don't run my country like a business, that just doesn't make a lot sense to me, and it's the reason why Ross Perot didn't win back in the 90s.
ReplyDeleteFor example, John McCain is almost as consistent in his conservative voting record and stance on issues as Romney.(In fact, he's slightly more conservative on some big issues such as the energy crisis and stem cell research.) One of my least favorite people in the world, James Dobson, won't support McCain because of his stance on gay marriage. Because Dobson doesn't like him is enough for me to like him.
But McCain is far-more qualified than Romney, in terms of years of service, and the type of service he's done in politics. So I just can't agree with him saying Romney is the most qualified.
I'm not sure where I stand on the religion issue. As a born-again Christian, of course I'd want the president of my country to believe in the same God and practice Christianity. But as the separation of church and state grows wider and wider, it's becoming more difficult to keep Christianity in politics.
Good thoughts on Romney and McCain Stephanie.. I could certainly support McCain.. he does seem to be getting some endorsements and rising in the polls. Only a few days to the Iowa Caucus.. should tell us a bit more....
ReplyDeleteAso, isn't it interesting how a man like McCain.. who seems to personify integrity.. isn't suuported by religious leaders like Dobson :(
ReplyDeleteI feel like the religious leaders are shooting themselves in the foot for this election year. It seems like to matter what they do, they are just making it worse. :(
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment that a politician's past record will tell you what he'll do in the future. On fiscal issues, Romney is pretty good. On abortion and special rights for gays, though, his record is abysmal. I wish I could trust him, but he flipped on these issues just as he decided to run for president. Doesn't sound very principled to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat specifically did Romney do while Governor do you disagree with Casey?
ReplyDelete