In 1959 voters debated the prospect of a Catholic, John F. Kennedy, being elected president of the United States.  Many of my fellow Baptists were concerned that his Catholic faith or the pope in Rome would have too much influence over his decisions as president.  As it turned out, no serious conflict arose and the separation of church and state continued intact.  Whether one supported or opposed his presidency, religion did not become an issue.

Today some debate the prospect of a Mormon serving as president.  For the first time we have a truly viable Mormon candidate in Mitt Romney, who is seeking the Republican nomination.   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) is arguably more cohesive and more active than are the Catholics of the nation.  Among evangelicals, the same reservations are being expressed as were expressed about JFK.  Among old-fashioned Baptists, concerns have been raised concerning church and state.  Romney, however, is on record as supporting separation of the two realms.  In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on February 17^th, Romney stated, “Well, we have a separation of church and state in this country, and we should and it's served us well…I do recognize and support the idea that when you take the oath of office, you basically support something which Abraham Lincoln called America's political religion.”     I don’t think we need to fear a Mormon president.

“But,” you might say, “doesn’t Islam teach that Allah should be in control and governments be controlled by the laws of the Koran?”  Many fundamentalist Moslems subscribe to this concept.  But there are a multitude of Christians who subscribe to a Christian version of the same ideology, known as Dominion Theology.  They believe Christians should control the government and make the nation, state or locality conform to their version of what God wants.  Rather than separation of church and state, they advocate the opposite.  Our real concern should be that one of these Christians, whether they are Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian, is elected president.  Although they may not identify with Dominion Theology, many currently serving in national and state office are seeking, piece by piece, to dismantle the separation of church and state.  We should be more concerned if someone like Roy Moore were elected president than if Mitt Romney becomes our next president.