Mitt Romney is No Jack Kennedy

Kennedy's America is Gone and a Candidate's Religion is No Longer a Private Matter

Washington, DC - Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney will deliver a speech on Thursday about the effects his Mormon religion would have on him as President. In response to the news of Gov. Romney’s long awaited "Kennedy moment," the Secular Coalition for America’s Director, Lori Lipman Brown, said:

Governor Romney is no Jack Kennedy.

In 1960, candidate Kennedy told us religion is a private matter, a statement this nation's founders would have agreed with. Sadly, today's presidential candidates are afraid to make such a statement. In his speech Thursday, candidate Romney will be trying to assure voters that he is just as religious as his political opponents.

In 1960, candidate Kennedy told us he believed in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. On Thursday, Gov. Romney plans to express his concern that religion is disappearing from the public square, and will call for its return.

In 1960, Kennedy was addressing fears that his religion's leaders might exert control over his Administration. Today, Gov. Romney fears he will not get enough support from leaders of the religious right.

Governor Romney says he wants to maintain America's religious heritage, but our greatest heritage is a Constitution that nowhere contains the word God, that prohibits religious tests for public office and privileges no beliefs -- theistic or nontheistic -- over others.

The Secular Coalition for America is the national lobby for atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans. From our office in the nation's capital, our full-time lobbyist and support staff engage public policy makers and the media to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all. Our Congressional scorecards show which elected officials in Washington are fighting to protect that secular heritage. Information is at http://www.secular.org.

###