Submitted by Rebecca, Dec 7, 2007 11:31

I agree with Bart's comment above. I do, unfortunately, think Mitt Romney has the same "self-serving motives" as our founding father. Mr. Romney shameless pandered to the religious right in yesterday's speech. He didn't dare defend Mormonism, but he did essentially say, "Hey guys, I am just as profoundly religious as you are, my Christianity will inform my decision, not my Mormonism per se."

For me, there are a couple of things with which to take issue. First, Mr. Romney equates religion and liberty, saying that one could not exist without the other. That is patently false. Liberty is a civic notion, not a religious one. While practice of one's religion does require liberty, liberty does not in any way require religion. It requires commitment, to be sure, but a commitment to one's nation, or one's humanity, not to one's God or Gods.

Secondly, Mr. Romney seemed to intimate that only monotheistic religions are of any account. Does that mean that Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists, Pagans or Indigenous people's faiths have no claim on Liberty? Only those who believe in God, Christ or Allah? Since this address was given in Bush I's Presidential Library, we can assume this speech was targeted only to the Christian Right, and that another, more inclusive version will be given as the race moves to more moderate turf, right?

Thirdly, Mr. Romney cites radical Islam as the only destructive religion. The only one that sponsors terrorism. Have we forgotten about Northern Ireland already? Or more distantly, the Crusades, Inquisition, Holocaust, or Salem Witch trials for that matter?

Mitt Romney's speech was a vehicle to regain his numbers in Iowa. He probably played well to the Evangelical constituency, especially those over 50 with his lavish praise of WWII vets, and his "Greatest Generation" as their heirs. Should he actually garner the votes to win the Republican nomination, it will come back to bite him. Those voters who are not aligned to either party will hopefully revisit this speech and understand that a vote for Romney is not a furtherance of Liberty, but a further erosion thereof.

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