Kennedy started his famous speech with this paragraph:
"While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight, I want to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election; the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers 90 miles off the coast of Florida--the humiliating treatment of our President and Vice President by those who no longer respect our power--the hungry children I saw in West Virginia, the old people who cannot pay their doctor bills, the families forced to give up their farms--an America with too many slums, with too few schools, and too late to the moon and outer space."
This historical perspective, gives us a glimpse-albeit harsh-at the progress or rather lack of progress with issues that still haunt us today. Yes, We've been to the moon and the spread of Communism is mostly abated. The cold war is over. There are still hungry children, homeless adults and children, elderly and others that cannot afford the spiraling cost of our inept and over-bloated health care system. Families are still forced to give up their farms, and fewer and fewer farm children choose the family profession to come back to when they leave for college. America still has too many slums, and the gap between the richest Americans and the poorest ones widens daily. We still have problems that reach well beyond the issue of Religion.
Mitt Romney, having not nearly as good a speech writer as Kennedy, took a full five paragraphs to come to the point. Since the first paragraph is essentially a nod to the former president, in attendance at the speech, I've included paragraphs 2 - 5 here:
"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."
As with any political speech, there are elements of truth. Certain, elements of radical Islam have targeted America, we are in fact troubled at home by government overspending and there is no question that we are addicted to the prostitute "foreign oil" and need a 12 step program. It's odd that our botching of the arrogantly conceived Iraq war, has either caused or fanned the flames of the first two-the threat of radical Islam and government overspending-and was plotted, planned, schemed and executed by our current Republican president and his then minions in both houses of congress.
It is also true that our fore-fathers saw the wisdom of protecting religious freedoms and I'm sure that John Adams words as quoted by Romney are correct. That does not, however, mean that religion or more appropriately, faith, is any less personal a matter than to lend credence to the fundamentalist cries for their brand of politics, their brand of religious freedom.
Over the past few years we've seen a push by fundamentalist Christians to forward their faith into the politics of America. George W. Bush was a candidate, largely picked by fundamentalist Christians, and just look at what a disaster that choice was! He wears his religion on his sleeve alright; That hasn't stopped him from incorrectly assessing the threat of a sovereign nation, Iraq, while allowing the perpetrator of one of the largest, most successful, peace-time terrorist attacks, Osama Bin Laden, to escape through Afghanistan. He's twisted the truth and out-right lied about the events leading up to the Iraq war, and he did so while holding his bible. In the process, men and innocent Iraqis have died. While the one perpetrator we know is guilty, continues to live.
I'd much rather have a president who recognizes the separate nature of his "faith" and have that faith guide his actual activities, than to have a president who touts his "religion" and then avoid faiths guidance at all costs. What Romney promises is more of the same. The final statement in the paragraphs above seals this issue:
"Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people."No, Mr. Romney, our constitution was made for all Americans, whether they choose to be religious or not. Romney's views, however, are not unlike those of other Republican candidates who have promised to let their religious convictions, rather than their faith, guide them.
When it gets right down to it we are talking on one hand about a drug; "Religious Crack," which is represented by the rabid believer who listens only to his religious leader, whether the leader is the Pope, Pat Robertson or Louis Farrakhan; and on the other hand about "faith;" the ability of a thinking man to absorb the thoughts and feelings of others, the teachings of his god and the words and deeds of people he admires, allowing these to guide his conscience in all things. Frankly, I'd much rather have a leader who is a thinker than one who is a drug addict.
Tough issues still face our nation. We need a leader who is tough enough to face these challenges, has faith enough to guide him morally in his duties and decisions and is wise enough to make choices that work for all Americans.
You can read John F. Kennedy's original speech about religion here: JFK Speech
You can read the full context of Mitt Romney's speech here: Romney Speech
