Actually I thought that Mitt’s speech was excellent overall. I’ve been fascinated with all the murmuring about his faith over the past few months. You can find the speech any number of places in text and audio. One quote: “Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.”  I think he’s right; I think people do grow tired of candidates without conviction. The best way to test to see if something you believe is a conviction is to see how it stands up under pressure. If it stands up – if you are able to maintain that firmly held belief without wavering – then it is a conviction. If you cannot hold to that belief, then it isn’t a conviction. So Mitt is on to something in recognizing the collective lack of respect there is for those who “jettison their beliefs.” Without doing so directly, it’s as if he’s asking the voters to have respect for who he is regardless of their agreement with or understanding of his faith.

Now, let me make this clear: Do I think a Mormon can be president? Yes. Do I believe a Mormon can be a good president? Yes. Can someone be Mormon and Christian? I have to say no. In spite of Mitt’s statement in his speech (“I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind”), he has to realize that even at the most basic core understanding of Jesus Christ, Christianity and Mormonism are mutually exclusive.

Why do I say this? First, please understand that I am not attacking an individual or the sincerity of one’s beliefs. I applaud Mitt Romney for having convictions, and I believe he is a person of good character. This does not mean that I can agree with his somewhat tepid and generic description of the Mormon Jesus.  Mormons believe that God the Father is a flesh and bones god and that Jesus was the first born (satan was the second) of God and one of his wives. Therefore, Mormonism teaches that Jesus was a created being. The Bible teaches that Jesus is not a created being; he IS God and existed from eternity. We don’t even need to go any further with other Mormon beliefs or teachings that are contrary to Biblical Christianity (too many to mention here). At the point where any religion teaches that Jesus was the progeny of a flesh and bones god, there is a conflict with Christianity.

In addition, Mormons believe that Jesus’ death on the cross itself is not enough to secure forgiveness of sins; in order to obtain forgiveness, humans must cooperate with God by being good and following all the commands and decrees issued by the church. Does this clash with the Biblical teaching of Jesus all sufficient merit by his suffering and death? You bet. Being Christian means following Jesus and all that is encompassed in the Biblical teaching about salvation.

So let’s not even have the debate of Mormons as Christians. They are not, but that does not mean that a Mormon – in this case Mitt Romney – can’t serve well as president. We’ll have to see how this all plays out over the next few weeks and months. And won’t we all be glad when this interminable campaign season ends?