Mitt Romney. Running for Presidential Election. Republican. These are the things voters see on the surface when getting to know Romney as a candidate for the Presidential Election. And, when it comes to faith, Romney is Mormon. When I first heard this, I knew nothing about Mormonism, and like many other people, was quick to judge.
“A lot of people don’t know about the faith so they’re skeptical about it,” junior Jasmine Roth, a practicing Mormon, said.
When looking into it, I realized that Mormonism isn’t what I thought. First of all, it has many similar beliefs to Catholicism. Mormonism is a Christian denomination, and like Catholicism, has a strong belief in morals and care for others, especially those in need.
I know the election shouldn’t center on religious beliefs, and in my opinion, it doesn’t. But we should still stay informed about the candidates and their lives. What kind of person they are outside of politics does matter.
One of the most notable speeches at the Republican National Convention was when Ted and Pat Oparowski spoke about Romney. In the 1970’s, their son was dying of cancer, and Mitt Romney visited him many times and also helped the boy write his will.
“How many men do you know would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally ill 14-year-old and help him settle his affairs?” Pat Oparowski asked the audience of the Convention.
The boy also asked Romney to give his eulogy, and he honored that request.
Romney has also stated on multiple occasions that all his inheritance from his father, who died in 1995, was given to charity. All of the money he has today, he made for himself.
Romney and his wife, Ann, gave 29.4 percent of their income to charity in 2011, according to politico.com.
Ann Romney said that she and Mitt lived in a basement apartment for a few years without much income or even carpeting. While finishing up college, they continued to get by on little income, having their first child while still in that small apartment, according to policymic.com.
In 1996, a 14-year-old girl had been missing in New York City for three days. Romney chose to close down the firm and take its 30-plus partners and employees to New York to assist in the search, on his own dime, according to policymic.com. They later found her in the basement of a New York home, suffering from withdrawals.
Romney did not start with a lot, but with his strong Mormon faith and good decision making, Romney made an impact in many more lives.
In 2003, Romney was at New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee with his family. They saw a boat sinking out in the lake, and Romney and two of his sons went out on to save all six people that would have otherwise drown.
Also in 2007, California was burning up from wildfires, and Romney and his sons stopped abruptly so they could help out. They asked that the images of them helping not be released, Romney did not want it to appear like a “convenient stunt” according to policymic.com.
Romney isn’t the first man who ran for the Presidential Election with a new religion. John F. Kennedy ran for the Presidential Election, and proceeded to take office in 1961. Kennedy was Catholic. Skepticism of the Catholic Church was still mainstream of American life in the 1960’s. People didn’t have the resources we have today to research what they didn’t know about Catholicism. They just judged. And regardless of what anyone thought, Kennedy During the election, Romney has been shown as robotic, emotionless, with no heart and no personality to shine. But Romney’s humble attitude has kept stories like these from being heard.
This man has a huge heart and has touched the lives of so many, and he is a practicing and faithful Mormon. We should not judge the other, but understand. Those we don’t understand have so much to offer to us and to the world.
Romney has the wealth and success that any of these situations could be seen as bragging, but truthfully, these situations happened because of Romney’s faith.
Romney’s Mormon, so what? He is clearly a good man with strong morals. Isn’t that what we should be focusing on during the Presidential Election? Judging someone harshly on their religion is wrong, especially when they have so much good to offer the world.
“He’s not going to force people to go to church, and different rules aren’t going to be set,” Roth said. “A lot of people think since he’s Mormon, he’s going to change the country. But for obvious reasons, he’s no,”was elected.
President Barack Obama had challenging religious rumors when running for the election in 2008.
During an ABC News Interview, Obama accidently slipped and said he was of the Muslim faith, and then later corrected himself and said “my Christian faith” according to Snopes.com.
After this interview, the rumor was out that Obama was Muslim. This worried a lot of Americans. No one knew about the faith. Obama is a Christian, but that is besides the point. We should not base an election off of religion.
So put your judgements of the Mormon, Catholic, and Muslim faiths aside. Look at the two Presidential candidate and chose not based on religion, but based on the future of our country.
Katie Mahoney • Nov 6, 2012 at 2:07 PM
Delaney, very well written! I am so happy to see an article like this was written, and very well at that. You guys have done an amazing job on the paper and website this year. So proud! It looks absolutely wonderful. Keep up the hard work ladies 🙂