The Washington Post’s Jason Horowitz has an interesting piece discussing the difficulty of covering Mitt Romney’s religion in the presidential campaign. The question in the headline: “Is Mitt Romney’s Mormonism Fair Game?” Horowitz appears to make some good faith attempts at tracking down a fair answer, but is ultimately too caught up in perceived dilemmas to bring any real light to the problem.
Horowitz argues that “Romney hasn’t made identification of [religious] boundaries any easier. He has highlighted his devoutness and churchgoing, but he has avoided discussing the substance of his religion.” Horowitz assumes, without arguing, that this is an illogical position. But the opposite is true. In almost every current example of American norms on what is public and private in personal identity, we view practice and lifestyle as publicly evident and relevant, and theology as private.
Read Full Article »