On Saturday, Mitt Romney will speak at a university that teaches his religion is a cult. Across the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, conservative Christians are turning to the Bible to justify voting for a heretic.
Romney at a Florida campaign rally.
LYNCHBURG, Va. — On page 173 of the course catalog for Liberty University, the country's largest Evangelical Christian college, there's a graduate course labeled Theology 678—Western and New Religions.
Its innocuous title belies the description of its curriculum:
"The history, doctrines, and present state of the major cults such as Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventism. The course will also include a study of the Occult Movement. Emphasis is placed on the errors of these groups and on methods and materials for confronting them effectively."
The course is just one reminder that when Mitt Romney takes the stand on Saturday to deliver the commencement speech at Liberty U, he will be addressing more than 2,000 evangelical students who have been taught that his Mormon faith is a cult that must be defeated.
But that doesn't mean they won't vote for him. As the Republican Party sits poised, for the first time in modern history, to nominate a presidential candidate who's not a protestant Christian, conservative Evangelicals across campus — and, indeed, across the country — are struggling to reconcile their theology with their politics. Can they really support a heretic for president?
Romney is unlikely to say anything that will change their minds in Saturday's address. The campaign didn't respond to requests for comment, but excerpts of the speech that were released Friday focus on the importance of family, and maintaining a work/life balance. Instead of reaching for a Kennedy-esque call for religious tolerance, the speech will likely remain consistent with the campaign's overall strategy this cycle: Avoid the Mormon issue at all costs.
The stage where Romney will deliver the Liberty U commencement address.
Source: liberty.edu
In the absence of comforting rhetoric from the candidate, Romney's dutiful followers here at Liberty are turning to scripture to justify supporting him.
"The Bible actually talks about this," said senior class president Thomas Moore, echoing a common refrain on campus when Romney's name comes up.
Sitting at a table in Liberty's cavernous student center — a well-furnished warehouse of a building on the edge of campus, complete with leather couches, ping pong tables, and video game consoles — Moore explained how the Old Testament helped him come to terms with supporting a Mormon presidential candidate. Specifically, he cited Exodus 18:25:
"And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."
"Able men go first," he said, pausing for emphasis. "And that's always been important to me. I always look for the most able person [in a candidate]. Yes, faith is a huge part of it, because it's part of who I am... But we need to pick someone who will get the job done."
It's the sort of scripture-based argument Moore has had to make repeatedly in recent weeks. When Romney was announced as the university's commencement speaker, many students were outraged that the administration would choose someone who belonged to what they see as a false religion for the occasion. They filled the school's Facebook page with indignant messages. They penned editorials in the campus newspaper. Some even pledged to boycott the ceremony in protest.
But while Moore dubbed the dissenters "radicals" who don't represent the wider student body, he conceded that even his more reasonable classmates — who, he says, are welcoming Romney's visit with Christian hospitality — have not come lightly to their support for the Mormon candidate.
The reluctance is understandable. Founded in 1971 by Dr. Jerry Fallwell as a training ground for conservative culture warriors, Liberty's stated mission is to turn its overwhelmingly Republican student body into "champions for Christ." To help reach that end, the school enforces a strict moral code that prohibits kissing, R-rated movies, social dancing, and drinking. It has also hosted a number of key conservative figures over the decades, from Ronald Reagan to John McCain, who come seeking the activist support of the students and their coreligionists. (When Glenn Beck, another Mormon, was invited to deliver the keynote commencement speech two years ago, he was also met with some resistance.)
