Mitt Romney. Politics. Religion. And All That.

"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

That's from Article VI of the United States Constitution. There's been a lot of activity lately at Article 6 Blog, where I write with my evangelical blogging partner John Schroeder of Blogotional (easily one of the more inspired blog names in the blogosphere - pun intended!). A few highlights:

• John has a philosophical post at Blogotional that I recommend to anyone who's interested in the interplay between religion and politics generally. If you're interested in the Mitt Romney - evangelical - Mormon collision, it's an absolute must-read. Excerpt:

I'm sure you remember Jimmy Carter. I have never been more sure of the right standing before the Throne of Grace for any other president, or candidate for president, than for Jimmy Carter, and yet he was one of the most consistently poor decision makers the office has ever seen. Mohler quotes Martin Luther in the segments as saying something like "I'd rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."

• We explored in depth (and quite vigorously, too) a recent radio program by Albert Mohler, an influential evangelical, in which Mohler considered two questions: (1) Will evangelicals vote for Mitt Romney, and (2) should they vote for Romney? The discussion of question (2) was by far the more provocative. Mohler wonders if he has a duty of Christian discipleship not to vote for a Mormon. Provocative stuff. I'll leave the rest for you to read at Article 6.
  

• We also got into an Economist article, "Mitt Romney's problem," subtitled "Religious prejudice may yet undo the Republicans' latest favourite." Read that here. An excerpt from our commentary on the article:

Many who are either sympathetic to the view that voting for a Mormon presents at least a moral dilemma for evangelicals (Al Mohler comes to mind), or who actually take the position that an evangelical could never vote for a Mormon (I believe this is a minority within the evangelical community) probably resist the notion that such views are outright religious prejudice. I think it's undeniable, however.

The rejoinder from the anti-Mormon evangelical camp may be that Mormonism is so wrong, so far out of the mainstream, that it is an evangelical's duty to vote against a Mormon for fear of "mainstreaming" a dangerous sect by electing one of its adherents to the highest office in the land. Al Mohler hasopenly suggested this. In that regard, I found Dr. John Mark Reynolds' analysis compelling . . . .

Anyway, if those subjects interest you, there's no better place to be on the blogosphere than Article 6 Blog.