Romney: Freedom Requires Religion

Really?

“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.”

Doesn’t freedom also mean you need not have any religion? Religion doesn’t require freedom, as evidenced by all those who have religion in countries where they are not truly free. And true freedom means you can have religion or not.

And he takes a shot at another faith:

“Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us.”

That’s not Islam, any more than those who bomb abortion clinics are practicing Christianity.

But he’s right when he says:

“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…I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law…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.”

But here’s where he gets it wrong:

“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.”

Who is “they”? Some nefarious, ill-defined evil force out to destroy America? He couldn’t be talking about Libruls, could he? Religion IS a private affair. It’s not that it doesn’t belong in public life. We just don’t need public officials waiving their faith in our faces. We don’t need 2-ton Ten Commandment tablets in public lobbies. We don’t need school officials leading kids in prayers and pledges. And we don’t need politicians telling us how moral they are.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.