When Does A Candidate's Religion Matter?

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute, and Associate Professor of Philosophy, at Biola University. My blogging partner at Article 6 Blog, John Schroeder, directs us to this piece by Dr. Reynolds that deserves a read by anyone who's interested in the intersection of religion and presidential politics.

He begins with this:

[T]o be blunt, Romney carries extra baggage: He is a member of the LDS (Mormon) Church. Will Evangelicals and traditional Christians vote for a candidate that they believe worships in a fringe cult?

If Romney cannot get traditional Christian votes, he cannot win in the primaries let alone the general election.

Should Christians oppose Romney on religious grounds?

What follows is a remarkably candid, intellectually rigorous, and even-handed piece that is sure to annoy some people on both extremes of the argument. Note: Dr. Reynolds does not confine his comments to Mitt Romney, but lays out a set of tests for Christians to use in deciding whether a particular candidate's religion is relevant to deciding whether to vote for him/her. I think it's the best work I have seen yet on the subject.

Go to Article 6 Blog for a fuller discussion of the subject.