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Jan Mickelson

Page history last edited by Mike 8 years ago

The below video is 20min long... The other videos on Youtube clip off most of the good stuff.

 

 

Jan Mickelson vs. Mitt Romney transcript

 

In Off-Air Remarks, GOP Candidate Takes Host to Task Over Questions About His Mormon faith

By JAKE TAPPER

 

Aug. 5, 2007 —

 

In remarks he didn't know were being recorded by a DV camera, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney heatedly defended his religion during commercial breaks of an interview with conservative talk radio host Jan Mickelson at WHO 1040 in Iowa.

 

...

Mickelson posted the video of his exchange Friday, drawing protests from the Romney campaign.

 

"We first expressed concern because we thought it was off-mike and off the record," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told ABC News. "But once we reviewed his entire tape we decided to put it on our own site."

 

Madden said the interview showed "Mitt Romney at his finest. It was Gov. Romney unplugged. It showed him to be very confident, very engaging and very passionate when faced with a very tough inquiry."

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Thank you good to be with you this morning. Marshal town is one of my favorite places. I used to work in marshal town.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I worked there as a consultant to Fisher Controls. It was one of my first assignments as a young consultant and I made the track, gosh it was a long period of time, back and forth from Des Moines to Marshalltown. I worked in Marshalltown. I worked for a guy named Larry Sully who was head of that division. He told that I would come to love the people of Iowa and he was right.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Not Really. But there are a few things you can remember such as how good the stakes was at Rubs (or Ruths or something), there is a place called Rubs, in Monture and I used to go there with…

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: No... now and then... I had to keep taking my… I got these real think fillet minion, cause that’s what I wanted, you know, you cook it and cook it and it looked like charcoal on the outside, bet then I got back to my table and it was too raw, and you had to go back, this was…

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... You made your own stake go back?

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... You probably didn’t even tip yourself then.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: This was when Rubs had about 10 tables. It is now a much bigger enterprise, but this was back, oh gosh, probably in the late 70s.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: OK. They have wonderful soccer field up there too; Ed Fisher built for the community. They are a progressive community in one way, but they, uh, anyway that’s a different subject, because you have talked about immigration before (who hasn’t) and immigration has had a huge effect on Marshalltown and a lot of rural Iowa communities as well. Well, welcome aboard sir, Thank you for coming. You’ve been on an "ask me anything" tour.

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Because our time is extraordinarily limited can I just dispense with the rest of the niceties…

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: At the, ah, um, because you are right now, ah, according to recent public opinion surveys running number one in the republican side here, ah, you are the candidate to beat here in Iowa (something) as I recall.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: You know I hope I’m doing well here. I think we’ve counted and I’ve been at over 200 events in Iowa and I’ve met a lot of people. We’ve got a great team, doing our best, and hopefully making progress.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: You and I share a common affection for the late Cleon Skousen.

 

(Never has Mitt Romney indicated he had an "affection" for Cleon SKousen. Jan Mickelson apparently assumes Mitt Romney likes Cleon Skousen, because they are both Mormon. What an idiotic way of viewing the world).  

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: The last I talked to you said he was one of your instructors (does that mean Romney has an effecting for him?)

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: He was also one of my instructors, via a book he wrote on the making of America. Which was a wonderful commentary on the US constitution. It combines Madison’s notes with every codicil in the constitution. It tells you exactly what original intent is.

 

(First of all Jan, there wasn’t one real intent. The constitution was agreed upon by many different people with many different intents)

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Isn’t that something? That is a book I had not read, and it’s worth reading?

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: You can never be a hustled by a politician again.

 

(ooh, magic! You have the keys to knowledge, Jan! You have politician’s kryptonite.)

 

…If you’ve actually read the original intent of the framers

 

(Jan seems to think that he is the only one who has ever done this. Mitt Romney graduated with honors from Harvard Law school. Do you think politicians like Mitt Romney, have never read the founding fathers? Here is a news flash for you Jan. Most politicians have probably read the founding fathers more than you have.)

 

 

Jan does not answer Romney. Jan is not interested in having a conversation with Romney Jan just wants to hear his own voice.

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... You just flunked Cleon Skousen’s test.

 

(What an arrogant prick. Let’s play stupid games with semantics)

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... Cleon is spinning in his grave SIR.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Well no the point is, he would say, the Supreme Court doesn’t make law, it can’t make law. There are only 3 sources of law and the Court is not one of them.

 

(A lot of people have spoken of Jan Mickelson’s arrogance, in telling Mitt Romney what HIS religion believes. I think Jan’s arrogance manifest itself most because Jan is not a lawyer, and he has in front of him someone Mitt Romney who graduated at the top of class from Harvard Law school, and Jan think that he can teach mitt Romney about how Law is made? Look you now name 3rd rate talk show host, have some humility. This “I know everything act” is pretty lame.)

 

 

(Here is where Mitt Romney starts getting interrupted with every sentence he tries to speak)

 

 

 

(Back to Cleon)

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... You flunked the 2nd Cleon Skousen test.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Now wait, I said the first choice of making. And then you have redress. This is what happened in my state. The Court said that people of the same gender, are entitled, under the constitution, to marry…

 

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... which excluded legislating from the bench...

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... and your duty and obligation at that point was to say thank you for sharing, its not law.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... that’s Cleon Skousen’s opinion.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: That’s Cleon’s option… Our redress at that stage is open to us because the constitution does lay out how to overturn a Court decision. In our case it’s through ballet initiatives and an amendment to our state constitution, which is a process we began and are still fighting for in my state. There are ways of having the people step above the court... what was interesting…

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... But if the Court was lawless… if its assuming legislative authority…you don’t even have to invoke the redresses you mentioned you just say that is null and void on the face because they are out of their legal jurisdictions…and you don’t have to sign anything over which they don’t have legal jurisdiction.

 

(Does Jan think saying the word “jurisdiction” over and over make him a lawyer?

 

This is MassResistance propaganda, and it is completely stupid. It is embarrassing that Jan Mickelson got a hold of it (probably from Brownback) and even more embarrassing that he believes it.)

 

 

 

 

 

(And here it is that we get to the real point of the interview. Jan Mickelson gets real loud and pompous here, because he day dreams of being in power.)

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I’m only speaking for myself here, Mr. Governor, but I want a president who will tell the supreme Court when it leaves its constitutional boundaries, to go take a Flying leap, and meet me in the back and we’ll settle this like men. Because that is what this country is crying for, and we don’t have to amend the constitution aberrant supreme Court rulings, if the guy at top, and the political class…

 

 

(You can tell this guy has psychological problems. He hates “the political class”, he daydreams about what he would do if he was in power. He gets very flippant sounding when he says, “sir” or “Governor”. He has problems.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I hear what Cleon is saying, I would worry about a circumstance where a president would decide which Court decisions…

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... You mean like Adams, and Washington, and Jefferson

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: No. Clinton. Alright? I worry about a Hillary Clinton saying, “I don’t like that Court decision, and I disagree with it, and they’ve gone on the wrong side, and I’ve decided I’m going to take a different course…

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Well there is a different branch of Government too.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I understand. I’m not terribly enthused about Harry Reid either. And so what I tell you in my view the right course for Rowe v. Wade, is to have it overturned, and to have it overturned by a Court which includes additional justices like Roberts and Alito, and that is the way to have the states finally have the authority that states were intended to have, which is this should be a matter of state decisions not federal decision.

 

At this point people should have turned the radio off and never listened to Jan Mickelson again. He is a raving idiot. But instead of admitting that he is an idiot, he decides to be a complete ass and say that Romney does not follow his own religion. Keep reading:

 

    • Jan Mickelson: What would you do then… On a personal basis you have made a transition. I’m not going to play the sound bites, but you have been on the record a couple of times in favor of abortion and your most recent endeavor, I will play one, when you said you were now pro-life when you were on with Stephanopoulos and this is…

 

(he even cuts himself off)

 

Stephanopoulos: What’s your position on abortion?

 

 

Stephanopoulos: What does that mean?

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: From my view I would like to see Row V Wade, over time, and as soon as possible, allow the states to make their own decisions with regard to abortion.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Which is basically what you said a few minutes ago.

 

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: … when I ran for office against Ted Kennedy. And yet when I became governor…

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: No. I never called myself pro-choice. I said that I don’t call myself pro-choice, but I said that I would protect a woman’s right to choose under the law as it existed, and so I was effectively pro-choice, as I said. And then when the rhetoric was finely matched the authority, when I became governor.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: And I actually had a bill that came to my desk, which was a life and death bill. It related to embryo cloning. I said that frankly Row v. Wade had gone too far, that I was wrong, and that I was pro life…

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... Because the reason that I’m asking is your Church has as its official position for forever on this issue, it says, A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints must not submit, perform, encourage, pay for or arrange for an abortion. If you encourage an abortion in any way you may be subject to Church discipline.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: You know the great thing about this country is that individuals who run for secular office are not implementing the policies of their church, they are doing what they think is right for the nation. And I came to the position by virtue of my leadership of a state, that I had been wrong, and that I needed to be pro-life

 

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... This is exactly what Kennedy says about his Catholicism. They call him, in the pro life community here…

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (Cutting Romney off)... "Why not?" interrupted Mickelson.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Because that’s not the nature of the office I’m running for. And there are people in my Church who are pro-choice. That is not against my Church’s view to allow people to have their own positions on political issues…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: You know I get just as much an opportunity to speak hear as you do. So let me finish my sentence, if you will.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: And that is I am pro-life. As governor of Massachusetts, I faced issues that came to my desk relating to life and death and I came down on the side of life. I wrote an op ed piece in the Boston Globe as to why I switched to life. Every decision that I took as Governor was in favor of life. And I was wrong in the past. And you know what, I’m not going to apologize to people for becoming pro-life. I received an award just a couple of days ago from the Massachusetts citizens for life…

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: ... giving me an award for public leadership in favor of life. And I’m proud of that record and as president of the united states, I will be a pro-life president. And you know what in my opinion, that’s where the topic ends.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Governor Romney, I need to take a short time out. We only have a short time together, and so I’ll take a quick time out and come back with more comments and more issues.

 

Mickelson then took a commercial break. However he had a camera recording the interview, and he aired portions of it later. At which point Romney obtained a full copy of it, and placed the whole thin on Youtube.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I would love to have an hour not 10 minuets. Then we could have nuance...

 

(Jan. You could never have nuance. You are the biggest retard on the face of the planet. You see the world in black and white and I feel sorry for you)

 

    • Jan Mickelson: ... and I think your making a big mistake, this is only my opinion OFF THE AIR (A lie!  Jan latter put it ON  THE  AIR), but I think you are making a biiiiig mistake when you distance yourself from your religion.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I’m not distancing myself from my faith.  I’m proud of my faith. There is nothing I distance myself from. There are Mormons in the leadership of my Church who are pro-choice, and they do not violate that. You're not a lawyer, but you have to read that a little bit more carefully. For instance my Church says, that if you have sex outside marriage that you could be excommunicated. Now, do we make a law that says that? No

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: You’re missing my point (No you are an idiot, and you are missing his point. His point is you don't have to make laws that implement what your church believes).

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: No you're missing my point. Which is what a society makes as law, and requires other people to do, is not necessary the same.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I’m talking about the political sphere. When you bifurcate politics from religion, and you have them hermetically sealed, when you make a political category over hear, and a spiritual one over hear.

 

Romney then went on to explain different practices banned by the Mormon church that he would never act on legislatively. Jan seems to think that using the word bifurcate makes it more intelligent to say that you have to try to implement your church doctrine exactly without comprimise in the political world.

 

Exodus 31:14 says, “Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people”. So according to Jan Mickelson we must put this book back on the books, or else we are not real Christians.

Exodus 21:15 says, "21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death". So according to Jan Mickelson, if you are a Christian politician, you must advocate this policy.

Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Thousands of innocent women have suffered excruciating deaths because of this verse. But according to Jan Mickelson, we must put this law back on the books. If Romney does not do it, he is not keeping true to his faith. 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: No my Church says I can’t drink alcohol, right? OK. That’s what my Church says. Mitt you can’t drink alcohol. OK, should I say that, as Governor of Massachusetts, we are stopping all alcohol sales? If you're not going to separate your religion. You better make everyone not drink alcohol. No. MY RELIGION IS FOR ME. And how I live my life. My Church, the leaders of my Church, who I know well, and who I have been, a leader of my Church, says with the same vehemence that we have our own beliefs, we also vehemently believe other people should be able to make their own choices.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: They can make their own choices, and have free agency. And so don’t confuse what I do, as a member of my faith, with what I think ought to be done by government.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Taking it to the next level, and the next level is, you are running in this state, trying to appeal to the, however you term it, the religious right.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I know but I understand your position, of who you are going to try to appeal to, and it includes Catholics, and evangelicals.

 

 

With commercials playing in the background, the two kept going at it.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I agree, but that’s not what I was getting to. What I was trying to get to was, people who will reject your Mormonism on a theological basis, would put up with that and might vote for you, if they thought you were a morally consistent Mormon.

 

(This is where I would punch the guy).

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: If they don’t think you are a morally consistent Mormon they are not likely to hold their nose…

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I make it very clear. I do not try and distance myself from my faith, in any way shape or form. I’ve been asked time and again, will you distance yourself from your Church, will you disavow this practice, and the answer is no.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: (he still doesn't get it. But he goes back to use the word "hermetically" which, of course, makes him sound real smart) The point is when you try to hermetically seal them, that makes your potential supporters who agree with your ethics, nervous. That’s all I’m trying to say.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: And so what should I do? I should not have been pro-choice. And so therefore I’m just finished right there. Well you were pro choice so you distanced yourself from your faith so you're finished. So what should I say?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: We only have about 30 seconds. Unless you want to stay longer.

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Governor Romney we just got started. Will you come back so that we can have and more detailed conversation?

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: You know I’m happy to get together, as you know, I get a chance to come all over the state, and I love getting together with folks from across Iowa.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Let’s do it sir. You went long in that last section. We didn’t have enough time.

 

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Let me help you understand. And you don’t understand my faith like I do. And so give me for a moment, the benefit of the doubt, that having been a leader of my Church, a bishop and a stake president, I understand my Church better than you do. My Church has very strong beliefs that Mormons should not participate in, encourage, in any way support abortion.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: You could be excommunicated if you do. That’s what they say, it’s right there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(You have got to see Romney’s face!)

 

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: The reason I said that is you also said in another forum, I think it was on Stephanopoulos, about the 2nd coming of Christ, and you said it was going to happen in Jerusalem.

 

 

 

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Is what wrong? The Church says that Christ appears and splits the mount of olives in Jerusalem. That’s what the Church says. And then over a 1,000 years of the millennium, that the world is reined in two places, Jerusalem and Missouri. The 2nd coming, the arrival of Jesus Christ, our Church says is in Jerusalem.

 

 

MR shrugs: that’s fine

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Cleon Skousen has a book called a thousand years, so you can talk about, Christ appears, throughout the bible Christ appears in Jerusalem, splits the mount of olives, to stop the war that is coming to kill all the Jews, our Church believes that’s when the coming and glory of Christ appears, we also believe that over the thousand of years that follow, over the millennium, he will reign from two places, the law will come from Missouri, and the other will be from Jerusalem, but that’s… back to abortion.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I have to get back on the air, but before I do, let me say that I take this stuff really seriously.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: Oh, I don’t though. For me this is all frivolous. Come on! I’m running for president.

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: But your not giving me the opportunity to explain to you that my faith has very strong beliefs that if I commit an abortion, encourage an abortion… I was beaten up in Boston because I pointed out time and again that I encouraged girls not to get abortions. That I told them to have adoptions. I have never done anything that violates the principles of my Church, in that regards, I’ve made other mistakes, but in that regards. But the Church does not say that a member of our Church has to be apposed to allowing choice in society. Therefore there are Mormon democrats. There is a democratic party in Massa… in Utah, filled with Mormons, and the Church doesn’t say their wrong, their being excommunicated, no because it says we are vehemently apposed to abortion, ourselves, and for ourselves but we allow other people to make their own choice. Politically, I disagree with that view. I looked at it and said, you know what, that’s wrong, and its not a Mormon thing, it’s a secular position to say you know what, I was wrong, we should have in society a prohibition on abortion in the following circumstances. But its not violating my faith let me assure you.

 

    • Jan Mickelson: I hope we can do this so that we can spend some quality time on here rather than the sound bites.

 

 

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: I know, that’s right, but I’m not running as a Mormon. And I get a little tired of coming on a show like yours and having it all about Mormon.

 

 

 

 

MR getting up to leave: So do I. So do I.

 

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: ... no I’m trying to get you to reconcile what I think is a disparity...

 

 

    • Jan Mickelson: Yeah, but the point is the people who are likely to vote, don’t want to elect, a Ted Kennedy, who comes back, or a senator hearken, who comes hear to Dowling, and comes hear to Iowa, and says I’m pro-life and when he gets to Washington stands up and becomes pro-choice.

 

    • Governor Mitt Romney: HERE is your opportunity to have that settled in your mind. I was governor four years. This is not just what I’m talking about. I was governor for four years. I had a number of pieces of legislation that came to my desk that dealt with abortion, abstinence education, RU-486, and so forth. I vetoed any bill that was in favor of choice. I was entirely consistent in favor of life. And so it’s not just my word that you have to take. Look at my record.

 

  • "I don't like all the emphasis that's being put on it, because I see it as being a little unfair. He is a man of faith and he has amazing principles. He's a good father and husband. I'd like them to look at the measure of the man and stop focusing so much just on his faith."

 

Governor Mitt Romney's religion Policy

 

Press Releases, Quotes, Speeches, and Videos from Mitt Romney about Religion. Organized by year

 

 

Governor Mitt Romney and Religion Press Releases

2007

2006

  • 03-10-2006, DEFENDING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, ROMNEY TO FILE BILL EXEMPTING RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS FROM GAY ADOPTION REQUIREMENT

2005

  • 06-28-2005, ROMNEY VOICES SUPPORT FOR FAITH-BASED PROGRAMS

2004

  • 08-10- 2004 , ROMNEY, MENINO CELEBRATE INTERFAITH APARTMENTS OPENING

 

Questions for Governor Mitt Romney

 

Religion

  1. 1st Debate
    1. What do you say to bishops who deny Communion to elected officials who support abortion rights?
    2. Do you accept Huckabee's statement that he wasn't talking about you?
  2. Mike Allen
    1. Why are key tenets of your faith still misunderstood?
  3. How is your church so successful in getting its young people to follow its teachings?
  4. Brian Lamb
    1. Who was Brigham Young?
    2. Well, if you go back -- and I found the name Pratt in your background who was some circuitous route related to Joseph Smith who was one of the founders of Mormonism.
    3. Are you prepared to deal with attacks on your religion?
    4. Do you have an evangelical problem?
    5. Has there been a mood change in the country about the importance of talking about religion?
    6. One place that I found that you almost died (His Mission)
  5. Wolf Blitzer
    1. How do you deal with the fact that you are a Mormon?
  6. Robert B Bluey
    1. Are you prepared to deal with what is bound to be attacks from the media and opponents about your religious faith?
  7. Wolf Blitzer
    1. Will evangelicals support a Mormon?
  8. Hugh Hewitt
    1. Does the country know enough about radical islam?
    2. Do you stand by your use of the word Islamic-facism?
    3. How many times are you going to have to ask and answer these questions?
  9. Jay Leno
    1. Is their enough diversity within the Mormon Church?
  10. Katherine Jean Lopez
    1. Will an exposé on Mormon Christmas celebrations hurt you in the primaries?
  11. George Stephanopoulos
    1. How does your faith inform your politics?
  12. Chris Wallace
    1. Are you a cultist?

 

George Stephanopoulos and the Romney's discuss their Faith

 

  • The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.
    • Ralph W. Sockman

 

  • In Massachusetts Romney signed laws allowing stores to sell alcohol on Sundays, even though he was prohibited by his faith from drinking.

 

  • In Massachusetts Romney signed laws that expand the state lottery, though Mormons are forbidden to gamble.

 

  • “There’s no church-directed view. How can you have Harry Reid on one side and Orrin Hatch on the other without recognizing that the church doesn’t direct political views? I very clearly subscribe to Abraham Lincoln’s view of America’s political religion. And that is when you take the oath of office, your responsibility is to the nation, and that is first and foremost.”
    • Governor Mitt Romney

 

 

Quotes from Governor Mitt Romney on Religion

  • "Oh, I think initially. Some people would say, Gosh, I don't know much about your faith, tell me about it. And I'd probably outline the fundamentals. I'm a religious person. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior. But then as you get into the details of doctrines I'd probably say look time out, let's focus on the values that we share. And fundamentally the values of my faith are very much like the values of other Judeo-Christian tradition values. And I think Americans want to have a leader who is a person of faith, but their not going to get terribly involved in the differences of doctrine, as long as the values we share are common."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006

 

  • "Not really. Not at this stage. You know its possible that there will come some point were there is a question that galvanizes interest and there is an occasion to say something that cuts through the confusion that may develop but at this stage it is kind of hard to predict what will happen. I mean I remember in the race with Ronald Reagan, it was in his debate that he said, "I'm not going to let your youth and inexperience become an issue in this campaign". That sort of put aside his age issue. And there may well be something of that nature. I just don't think Americans will do something the constitution forbids. The constitution says that no religious test shall ever be required for qualification for office in these United States, and I don't think my party or the American people would ever do that."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006
      • Guest host Judy Woodruff: John Kennedy, we remember, looked for and found a venue where he could talk about his catholic faith. The Houston ministry is a very famous speech that he gave. Would you look for and are you looking for a place were you can make a statement like this and are you looking for the right place and time?

 

  • "There is a leap of faith associated with every religion. You haven't exactly got those doctrines right, but if you have doctrines you want to talk about go talk to the church, because that's not my job. But the most unusual thing in my church is that we believe there was once a flood upon the earth and that a man took a boat and put two of each animal inside the boat and saved humanity by doing that."
    • Governor Mitt Romney on the Charlie Rose Show, June 5, 2006
      • Guest host Judy Woodruff: But there are some aspects of Mormonism that many Americans might not understand… are these legitimate issues for people to ask you about?

 

  • "There are unusual beliefs associated with each faith and I'm proud of my faith and happy to talk to people about it but fundamentally my race for governor, my race for senator before that, and if I run for nationally its going to be about the values that I have, and the values that I think should be emphasized in this country and answers to the kind of challenges that we face, because I believe that America is at a critical time, and I believe those are the types of issues that people will focus on."

 

  • “This is a sad day for neglected and abandoned children. In this case, it’s a mistake for our laws to put the rights of adults over the needs of children. While I respect the board’s decision to stay true to their principles, I find the current state of the law deeply disturbing and a threat to religious freedom.”

 

  • “I ask the Legislature to work with me on a bill that I will file to ensure that religious institutions are able to participate in the important work of adoption in a way that always respects and never forces them to compromise their firmly held beliefs.”

 

 

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Faith in America

by Mitt Romney

 

"Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction.

 

"It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the First Lady and because of the film exhibited across the way in the Presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the President as a young pilot, shot down during the Second World War, being rescued from his life-raft by the crew of an American submarine. It is a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation. We are in your debt. Thank you, Mr. President.

 

"Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat Fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It is now my generation's turn. How we respond to today's challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.

 

"America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we are troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.

 

"Over the last year, we have embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America's greatness: our religious liberty. I will also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my Presidency, if I were elected.

 

"There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adams' words: 'We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people.'

 

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

 

"Given our grand tradition of religious tolerance and liberty, some wonder whether there are any questions regarding an aspiring candidate's religion that are appropriate. I believe there are. And I will answer them today.

 

"Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for President, not a Catholic running for President. Like him, I am an American running for President. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.

 

"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.

 

"As Governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution – and of course, I would not do so as President. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.

 

"As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's 'political religion' – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your President, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

 

"There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers – I will be true to them and to my beliefs.

 

"Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.

 

"There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.

 

"There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church's distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.

 

"I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life's blessings.

 

"It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter – on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.

 

"We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

 

"The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square. We are a nation 'Under God' and in God, we do indeed trust.

 

"We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'

 

"Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage. Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: does he share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty?

 

"They are not unique to any one denomination. They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common. They are the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.

 

"We believe that every single human being is a child of God – we are all part of the human family. The conviction of the inherent and inalienable worth of every life is still the most revolutionary political proposition ever advanced. John Adams put it that we are 'thrown into the world all equal and alike.'

 

"The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God. It is an obligation which is fulfilled by Americans every day, here and across the globe, without regard to creed or race or nationality.

 

"Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty. The lives of hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world. America took nothing from that Century's terrible wars – no land from Germany or Japan or Korea; no treasure; no oath of fealty. America's resolve in the defense of liberty has been tested time and again. It has not been found wanting, nor must it ever be. America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom.

 

"These American values, this great moral heritage, is shared and lived in my religion as it is in yours. I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor. I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby, and in just as consequential ways in leading national volunteer movements. I am moved by the Lord's words: 'For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me...'

 

"My faith is grounded on these truths. You can witness them in Ann and my marriage and in our family. We are a long way from perfect and we have surely stumbled along the way, but our aspirations, our values, are the self-same as those from the other faiths that stand upon this common foundation. And these convictions will indeed inform my presidency.

 

"Today's generations of Americans have always known religious liberty. Perhaps we forget the long and arduous path our nation's forbearers took to achieve it. They came here from England to seek freedom of religion. But upon finding it for themselves, they at first denied it to others. Because of their diverse beliefs, Ann Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay, a banished Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and two centuries later, Brigham Young set out for the West. Americans were unable to accommodate their commitment to their own faith with an appreciation for the convictions of others to different faiths. In this, they were very much like those of the European nations they had left.

 

"It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.

 

"We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.

 

"I'm not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I have visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired ... so grand ... so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe's churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.

 

"Infinitely worse is the other extreme, the creed of conversion by conquest: violent Jihad, murder as martyrdom... killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference. These radical Islamists do their preaching not by reason or example, but in the coercion of minds and the shedding of blood. We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny, and the boundless suffering these states and groups could inflict if given the chance.

 

"The diversity of our cultural expression, and the vibrancy of our religious dialogue, has kept America in the forefront of civilized nations even as others regard religious freedom as something to be destroyed.

 

"In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined against the evils and dangers of the day. And you can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion – rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith.

 

"Recall the early days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. 'They were too divided in religious sentiments', what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics.

 

"Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.

 

"And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God ... they founded this great nation.

 

"In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine 'author of liberty.' And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, 'with freedom's holy light.'

 

"God bless the United States of America."

 

 

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