Shortly after Mitt Romney’s gubernatorial election in Massachusetts, the Boston Stake planned a “mini-mission,” in which 60 LDS teenagers spent a weekend proselyting with the full-time missionaries in Eastern Massachusetts. In the testimony meeting that followed the activity, everyone took turns swapping their best rejection stories. The winner came from a kid who had spent the afternoon knocking on doors near Cambridge:
“This really isn’t a good day for you guys to talk to me,” a woman told them after glancing at their nametags. “I’m a Democrat.”
With the 2012 presidential elections just around the corner (read: “about three years away”), many are speculating as to whom the GOP will pick to challenge President Obama. Romney’s name inevitably comes up in these discussions.
Of course, much has been written about the role Romney’s Mormon faith played in his failed 2008 presidential bid, but few have been willing to ask what it would mean for the Mormon church if Romney were to win this time around.
Remember, for all the church’s efforts to be seen as a mainstream Christian religion, Mormonism is still a somewhat obscure sect in the minds of most Americans. It is quite likely that if a Mormon became president, lots of people would get curious about his beliefs. And given the well-oiled LDS missionary machine, I bet more than a few of those people would end up converting.
(Full disclosure: I also happen to believe Mormonsim is true and that God would play a role in their conversion, but even if you don’t share that belief, the scenario is not implausible.)
The real question is, who would be converting?
With the tone of American politics dictated these days by the likes of Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which a president is consistently well-liked and approved of by more than half the country’s population. If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that presidents will be relentlessly demonized by the opposing party no matter what he does.
Bottom line: Fox News and conservative talk radio would make Romney look very good, while the liberal pundits would try to harpoon him every chance they get.
Maybe after four years of Mitt-lovin’ from Sean Hannity, politically conservative Evangelicals and Baptists would be a bit more open to Mormon teachings. But I’m also guessing that in this environment, liberal Democrats would have a very hard time investigating the LDS church when their political arch-nemesis is a devout Mormon.
As a fierce independent and a faithful Mormon, I would welcome more converts to the church regardless of their political affiliation (as long as their conversions are sincere and not based on political idol-worship). But I can’t help but wonder whether a Mormon president would alienate a significant pool of potential investigators. What do you think?
Yeah… bcuz that’s the last thing the LDS church needs is more wacky conservatives a’la Glenn Beck…
What we need is a serious Mormon Democrat to run for President. Democrats would vote for a Mormon three times faster than Republicans would. How many liberal rags spend time lampooning Harry Reid’s faith. It’s a non-issue.
You might be right about a Mormon Democrat running for President. Harry Reid doesn’t seem like a viable option given his polarizing role in the failed health care bill, but there are others, believe it or not. Tom Udall, a senator from New Mexico, is a moderate Democrat, and then there’s Leonard Boswell of Iowa.
McKay,
I think we should anticipate mixed reactions. Surely, the opposition will harden as they respond to a seeming “normalization” of Mormonism that a Romney election would signal to some. It would likely bring interest on many levels by people not directly affiliated with either our secular or our religious detractors.
Last week, the LDS church consolidated several missions around the world and in the US. That tells me that missionary work in the Midwest and East is slowing, relative to missionary assets deployed. The same announcement also detailed expansion of missionary efforts in Africa and Asia.
A Romney election, and post-presidency, may have a larger impact on missionary work outside the US. It would be more often seen as a normalized Christian church in those third world countries, especially those where Christianity is a minority.
Romney, post-presidency, would also have a compelling impact on improving relations with countries that don’t currently allow our missionaries entry.
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