Romney's Religion Coming into the Spotlight

Another election first as Mitt Romney might become the first Mormon President if some voters are able to separate church and state at the polls.

Romney has not spent much time discussing his affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Religious debates are overshadowed by topics such as economic policy and health care.

A 2009 article on the LDS’ website shows 2% of the U.S. is Mormon, and 2.8% of Colorado. As of January 1, 2009, 137,145 members of the Church resided in the much sought after swing state.

The Religious Studies department at CU Boulder put the topic of Mormonism front and center in a recent presentation. The department brought in two professors to discuss their research on Mormonism’s racial history, and how that may affect the 2012 election.

“There are still a certain percentage of people who say they won’t vote for a Mormon presidential candidate simply because they are Mormon. It’s somewhere between 18% and 20%” said Professor Newell G. Bringhurst from the College of Squoias.

Evangelical Christian’s misunderstandings of the Mormon religion adds to the situation. One of the biggest stereotypes of the religion being Polygamy, but Romney has come out discrediting this once approved practice of the Church.

President of Secular Students and Skeptics Society Trent Emory said: “It’s bizarre. I think it does have to take a certain level of gullibility, of credulity to believe some of that stuff because it is a step further than a lot of religions.”

Romney is not only a member of the LDS Church, but he also went on a 2-year mission and has served as Bishop and Stake President.

“The ban that was put into place excluding African Americans from the Mormon Priesthood occurred in 1852 and lasted until 1978” said Professor Matt Harris.

“That shouldn’t affect, in any regard, unless their policies are surrounded with their religious affiliation, it shouldn’t matter what they believe,” Emory said.

Dr. Bringhurst also shares this sentiment. “That 20% I would guess they would be people that are maybe using that as an excuse. I’m sure there are other things about the candidate other than his Mormon faith that they find objectionable,” Bringhurst said.

The latest Pew Research Center poll shows that Mitt Romney has a 74% support rate among white evangelical Protestant voters, a group he had a tough time gaining approval of during the primaries.

While the topic of Romney’s religion continues to be brought up, it does seem that most voters remember that the constitution explicitly states that there is separation between Church and State. See this could tie back to the lead so try this for a conclusion