Keeping the Faith

By New Port Richey resident Joseph Margetanski

We're all familiar with this scenario: rumors and speculation abound about the presidential candidate not really being a Christian as he claims, but rather belongs to what some perceive as a dangerous cult that has designs to undermine American sovereignty.

But if you think such speculation and fear is something unique to our current president, or this election, think again. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney aren't the first presidential aspirants to face rumors and doubts about their faith. We’ve had two other presidential candidates in our history that faced persistent concerns about their religion.

In one case, those fears derailed the dreams of one Oval Office seeker. In the other case, the candidate was able to overcome worries about his faith and win the Presidency. 

Those earlier challenges involved two candidates in presidential races 32 years apart, but both office seekers shared the same religious denomination: Roman Catholicism.

In 1928, Democratic Presidential candidate Al Smith's Catholic background proved to be a liability, especially in the South, where voters were overwhelmingly Protestant. Smith's denomination fueled speculation that the White House could be controlled by a foreign power-- the Pope. Doubts about Smith's Catholic connections even led Floridians to vote for Herbert Hoover, the first time since Reconstruction that Florida voted for a Republican. Smith, the first Catholic to run for President, was defeated in part because of opposition to his religion.

Eight presidential elections later, another ambitious politician faced similar fears about his Catholic upbringing. John F. Kennedy, then an ambitious senator, ran for President in 1960. Despite his record as a war hero and his influential family, Kennedy was also dogged by reservations about his religious affiliation and how it would affect his policies if he won the office. To allay those concerns, Kennedy made a speech at the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960.

He told the audience, and by extension the American people, that "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters-- and the Church does not speak for me."

The speech had the intended effect, and it nullified the fears about his Catholic religion. JFK was able to avoid his Catholic predecessor's fate, and of course, was able to win office. 

But the specter of doubt and innuendo has never wholly been exorcised. It rose again when another Senator, Barack Obama, ran for President in 2008.

This time, the candidate was accused not doing the bidding of the Pope, but rather of Islamic extremists. Despite Obama's repeated insistence that he is a Christian, and actual footage of him attending a Christian church, rumors spread that he was a Muslim. This sent alarms bells though some Americans, who have associated Islam with terrorism, especially after the 9/11 attacks.  

With the use of the Internet, false accusations and even outright lies spread almost instantly. Anyone with a laptop was able to pass along false emails and innuendo, with no one to check on the validity of these cyber claims.

There's been less buzz about the Mormon ties of Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican opponent in this election. Still, a number of religious evangelicals don't consider the Mormon faith to be a true Christian denomination. They have doubts about Romney's Christian ties, though like Obama, Romney is adamant that he is a Christian.

Regardless of whether Obama or Romney wins the election, speculation on the President's commitment to the Christian faith will no doubt persist.  

Uncertainty about the Commander-in-Chief's religious background, fueled by the easy access to inaccurate Internet claims and hoaxes, is the technological genie in the bottle. Once it's been released, it can never be put back. Like those annoying robocalls and the negative ads that bombard our television screens, questions about the president's faith are likely here to stay.

Quotes from Kennedy's speech courtesy of Wikipedia.