Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin writes: Mitt Romney is scheduled to give his anticipated religious speech on Thursday, December 6. There is speculation as to whether this speech, written personally by Romney, will bear any resemblance to the famous religious speech that Senator John F. Kennedy gave before he was elected U.S. President.

There have been commentators on my blog that love to question Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution. This post contains excerpts from the famous 1960 address, given by Senator John F. Kennedy prior to his presidency, in which he mentions, and explains, the significance of Article 6. 

As many of you know, I have written extensively on the topic of religious intolerance, especially as it applies to some of today's evangelical Christians, and their attitude toward Mitt Romney and Mormonism. In fact, the word "Mormon" can easily replace the word "Catholic" in Kennedy's speech, in order to grasp the full meaning. Please note that Senator (President) Kennedy's hope was, as is mine, for religious intolerance to end one day.

The following excerpts are from: Address of Senator John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association - September 12, 1960—Rice Hotel, Houston, Texas, courtesy of The Boston Globe reprint on December 2, 2007. You may read the entire address by clicking
http://www.boston.com/
news/nation/
articles/2007/12/02/
address_of_senator_john_f_kennedy_
to_the_greater_houston_ministerial_association/.
I highly recommend that you read this address in its entirety.

"'Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end--where all men and all churches are treated as equal--where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice--where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind--and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.'"

"'That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe--a great office that must neither be humbled by making it the instrument of any one religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.'"

"'I would not look with favor upon a President working to subvert the first amendment's guarantees of religious liberty. Nor would our system of checks and balances permit him to do so--and neither do I look with favor upon those who would work to subvert Article VI of the Constitution by requiring a religious test--even by indirection--for it. If they disagree with that safeguard they should be out openly working to repeal it.'"

"'And in fact this is the kind of America for which our forefathers died--when they fled here to escape religious test oaths that denied office to members of less favored churches--when they fought for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom--and when they fought at the shrine I visited today, the Alamo. For side by side with Bowie and Crockett died McCafferty and Bailey and Carey--but no one knows whether they were Catholic or not. For there was no religious test at the Alamo.'"

The above quotations should clarify any more doubts that some of my readers have regarding Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution. The following excerpts, also from Senator John F. Kennedy’s Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, addresses the same exact situation that Governor Mitt Romney now has to contend with--that issue being whether Mitt will, as U.S. President, take orders from the LDS Church. *See my recent related posts.

Senator John F. Kennedy continues:

"'But let me stress again that these are my views--for contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters--and the church does not speak for me.'"

"'Whatever issue may come before me as President--on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject--I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressures or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.'"

"'But if the time should ever come--and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible--when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same.'"

"'But I do not intend to apologize for these views to my critics of either Catholic or Protestant faith--nor do I intend to disavow either my views or my church in order to win this election.'"

Related Links

Address of Senator John F. Kennedy
to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association -
Click this link to read the text and/or listen to an audio clip of Kennedy's address on religion and religious intolerance.
Rice Hotel, Houston Texas
September 12, 1960 

http://www.mittromney.com/

http://www.mittromney.com/
Ann-Romney/index 

http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/ 

http://www.mittreport.com/ 

My Related Posts

*Mitt: Founders Prohibited Religious Test
*Mitt Will Go By Constitution, Not LDS Church 
*Romney, Kennedy, and "Faith in America"
Mitt, Freedom, and Destiny's Question 
Mitt Has 19-Point Lead In New Hampshire
Mitt Says Rudy Has "A Real Problem With Facts"
Will Romney Incarcerate Abortionists?
Mitt Romney's Veterans Day Military Plan
Hatchet Job On Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney's War On Taxes And Terror
Mitt Romney, Mormons, and One Martyr
Three Mormon Classics by CW
Mitt Romney, Mormons, and Pacifism

Mitt: "I WILL BE A Pro-Life President!"
Mitt On Fire Electrifies Values Voters
Mitt Romney, Mormons, and Nine Christians
Is Mitt Romney Still That MORMON Person?
Mitt Romney #1 Fave Of Top Evangelicals
Mitt Believes In Jesus Per Joel Osteen
Mitt Romney Support Urged By Evangelical
Mitt Romney and A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Shall Romney and Jefferson Meet In Hell?
Thomas Jefferson's Interview With God  
Mitt Romney Qualifies With Article 6
Mitt Romney and Two Political Deists
Mitt Romney in The Mittchant of Venice

The original date of this post was
December 5, 2007. 

Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin, author of the Conservative Wordsmith Weblog, appreciates your thoughts and comments.