Here are a few items of note from my reading this weekend.
Evangelicals and Mormons, Part XXXXVIIII...: The standard storyline so far has been that Mitt Romney's ceiling is due to his Mormon faith, and Mike Huckabee's rapid rise is due to his evangelical support. Yet there is some reason to doubt that Romney's Mormonism is as important a factor as his supporters claim. An LA Times/Bloomberg poll found 73% of respondents didn't care about his Mormonism. Rather, the "flip-flop" problem was more significant. Other people are questioning the standard storyline too.
Romney on Stem-Cells: Jill Stanek, a pro-life writer who is very well connected within the movement, has rejected Mitt Romney for his position on stem cells. In an interview with Katie Couric, Romney said:
Yes, those embryos that are referred to commonly as surplus embryos from in-vitro fertilization. Those embryos, I hope, could be available for adoption for people who would like to adopt embryos. But if a parent decides they would want to donate one of those embryos for purposes of research, in my view, that's acceptable. It should not be made against the law.
I'm not as up on this issue as on others, so I can't compare this position to, say, Bush's moderate pro-life position. But I do know that claiming it's morally licit and not funding it with federal dollars are two very different things. I'm glad he won't fund it, but it's problematic that he thinks it's licit.CNN Versus Romney: Soren Dayton wonders whether CNN is trying to set the narrative that Romney is different in public than he is in private. Dana Bash says in her closing line, "This is a narrative that is continuing with Mitt Romney that he says something publicly that might not match what he is doing privately or what he has done in the past." The video is here. Notice the "Romney Gets Testy" graphic. Testy? I'm not a Romney guy, but he looks mildly amused at the idiotic questions, not testy. Curiously, they took the graphic out of the online version of the segment.
CNN Versus Religion: From Erick at Redstate:"The media, like the left, hates religion. They hate Romney for daring to talk about it yesterday. They hate Huckabee for talking about it articulately. So now they have no problem accusing either of bigotry. Look at the Washington Post attacking Romney for ignoring atheists in his speech. They don't like it. And people like Michael Goodwin are happy to lie about Huckabee because they view any talk of religion as a threat."Romney: "He may be beating me in every poll, but he won't win the nomination!"
Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.
