Romney's Speech: (Video | Text)
JFK's Speech: (Video)
I do admit that there were different flavors of arguments between Romney and JFK, but the overall message was the same: A candidate should not be chosen because of his/her faith.
Some claim that JFK wanted an absolute separation of church and state whereas Romney wanted to mix the two. The claim is made that JFK declared a secular government "…the separation of church and state is absolute," whereas, he defined that statement immediately following. In essence, the church won't tell the president how to act, no church would tell it's parishioners how to vote, or where somebody is denied public office because of his religion. JFK defined what he meant quite clearly as did Romney. The message on this was the same.
Romney said, "No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion." He added, "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin." Also, "I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.' ...Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government."
Both explanations coincide. Romney took JFK's speech further when he added that the country was founded on God given principles. That is our heritage, that is our history. Romney calls for the same separation declared by JFK but expands the argument by adding that he will not forget our founding and lasting heritage.
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