Religion
and politics
Did Romney's guarded approach do him in?
Mormon,
Evangelical observers say open dialogue is key to
overcoming biases
By Jessica Ravitz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:
In 2006, two
Their message was simple: Romney would have to be upfront about
his Mormon faith and beliefs.
"You've got to have town-hall meetings, discussion
groups, something on your Web site," Gregory Johnson remembers the pair
saying. "Religion can't be a taboo thing, because people are going to want
to know."
Johnson, president of Standing Together, a
The candidate suspended his campaign Thursday in the
aftermath of the crushing blow that was Super Tuesday, and Johnson says
Romney's guarded approach, the perceived secrecy about his beliefs, helped do
him in.
Added to this was the reality that even though Evangelicals
weren't necessarily talking about Romney's religion, in part because it was
deemed inappropriate to do so, they were thinking about it. A study conducted
by professors at Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University shows
as many as 57 percent of conservative Evangelicals admitted they were hiding
behind more politically correct criticisms, such as condemning Romney for
flip-flopping.
Brett Benson, a political-science teacher at Vanderbilt,
says the team set out to measure biases in this historic election season and
how they'd shape results. While many studies have been done about attitudes
toward women and blacks, the Mormon question hadn't been explored, explains
Benson, who happens to be Mormon. His co-authors are not.
Their survey, completed just before Romney's Dec. 6 speech
on the importance of faith, showed bias against Mormons is stronger than it is
against women and blacks, especially among conservative Evangelicals. It also
showed - among other things - that providing
information can dispel stereotype-driven biases, including the ones that say
Mormonism is a cult, polygamy runs rampant and any elected Mormon would be
controlled by
The explanation, Benson says, is rooted in recent history.
In the early 1980s, Southern Baptist Convention leaders
discovered that about 40 percent of Mormon converts were being drawn from
Baptist ranks, Benson says. This realization pitted two proselytizing faiths
against one another in the "marketplace for souls," he continues, and
fueled efforts to inflame negative perceptions.
A Dan Jones poll conducted Thursday for KSL and the Deseret
Morning News just after Romney announced his campaign's suspension
indicated that of the nearly 90 percent of Utah Republicans who supported
Romney on Super Tuesday, only 2 percent said they'd throw their weight behind Huckabee. In fact, the numbers showed support for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
edging close to support of John McCain, who gathered 30 percent of the
immediate support swing.
This reaction, even if it's passing, "speaks to the
problem" and proves that it's not just Evangelicals who are holding
biases, Johnson says. And it further bolsters the need for leaders in the
conservative evangelical world and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints to start talking and building bridges.
Millet looks at these election-cycle reactions and realities
and says he prefers to see this time as an opportunity, even a "wake-up
call," rather than an indicator of "bad news."
"You know, we're not very well-understood across the
country," he says of his fellow Mormons. "Is there a better way to
present ourselves so people aren't mystified or horrified when a Momon candidate comes forward?"
Grappling honestly with this question, and not being afraid
to talk to others, is key, Millet adds.
"You don't have to give away the store, you don't have
to compromise" your own beliefs, he says. "We can hold our separate,
private views and still have meaningful, enjoyable and enlightening
conversations."
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* JESSICA RAVITZ can be reached at jravitz@sltrib.com or
801-257-8776. Send comments about this story to religioneditor@sltrib.com.