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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Mitt Romney: Mormonism

Mitt Romney has been campigning for republican nomination for about a month, his campaign focus has mainly been the economy.  Although his Mormonism and it's associated 'clean family values' has got some traction with those on the right of American politics who are concerned with morals, what I'm most interested is the way in which his campaign brings Mormonism and it's relationship to Evangelical Christianity to the fore again. In Australia, the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses are probably represented by similar sized but small populations and don't interact with Australian Evangelical Christians at all.  But in America, the sheer size of Mormonism and it's demographic concentration around Utah makes it's relationship with Christianity more complex. For example Richard Mouw (Calvinism at Las Vegas Airport) has been involved in trying to find common ground with Mormonism.  If Romney stays in the race either the theological differences will be brushed over in effort to focus on common moral values or his campaign will have the unintended side effect of bringing the Mormon-Christian differences into the limelight.  Whatever the case I hope theology gets some media airtime!