Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.
Mitt Romney, with Tim Russert, on Meet the Press, December 16, 2007 (hat tip KVNU):
MR. RUSSERT: But when you say freedom requires religion, can you be a moral person and be an atheist?
GOV. ROMNEY: Oh, oh, of course. Oh, of course.
MR. RUSSERT: And participate in freedom?
GOV. ROMNEY: Oh, of course. Yes, this…
MR. RUSSERT: So freedom doesn’t require religion?
GOV. ROMNEY: Well, this–the, the context was talking about the, the founding of the nation and the, the sense in this case of John Adams describing the fact that our constitutional form of government and this American experiment required morality, which in turn required religion. And, and yet, of course, on an individual basis, you have many individuals of great morality and–that, that don’t have any particular faith.
MR. RUSSERT: So if you determined that the most qualified person for the Supreme Court or for attorney general or secretary of education happened to be an atheist or an agnostic, that wouldn’t prevent you from appointing them?
GOV. ROMNEY: Of course not. You, you, you look at individuals based upon their skills and their ability, their values, their intelligence. And there are many who are agnostic or atheist or who have very different beliefs about the nature of the divine than I do, and, and you evaluate them based on their skills. But I, I can tell you that I, I myself am a person of faith and, and respect the, the sense of the common bond of humanity that comes from that, that fundamental belief.
MR. RUSSERT: But there’d be no litmus test?
GOV. ROMNEY: No, no. There’s no litmus test of, of that nature.
No litmus test, except for Muslims, who you have said won't have a place in a Romney Cabinet.
1 comment:
I would like Mitt to make two lists. One list would rank countries of the world in order of personal freedom enjoyed by their citizens, with the most free countries at the top. The next list would rank nations of the world in order of religiosity of its citizens, again with the most religious countries at the top. Perhaps some adjustment could be made for countries that enforce religion on their populace. Either way, I suspect that the countries that appear at the top of the first list will generally appear at the bottom of the second list, and vice-versa.
Mitt's "freedom requires religion" axiom doesn't hold up to any scrutiny, and neither does he.
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