Religion and Politics - Mitt Romney and John F. Kennedy

In 1960, John F. Kennedy, a Catholic ran for president, and in 2012, Mitt Romney, a Mormon, ran for the same position. In both races, the religious background of the candidates came into question, and both times, the candidates gave a speech to the American public addressing the fact that neither of their religions would come into play in decision making for the country. They did both mention however, that their morality would play into decision making, and that that morality was taught to them through their religion. As was mentioned earlier, religion can be forced out of politics but religious morality cannot.
             On September 12th, 1960, John F. Kennedy made an address in Houston that focused on his religion, but he also was quick to point out that there were numerous issues in the 1960 election that required, in his opinion, more attention than his religion, such as the Cold War and the spread of Communism, poverty, and the Civil Rights Movement, and this outlook proved almost immediately that John F. Kennedy would be able to put his religious views second to the betterment of the country. But, for those who still questioned, Kennedy elaborated. "So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again -- not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me -- but what kind of America I believe in. I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials, and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all" (Kennedy). With this quote, which comes early in his speech, Kennedy sets forth the notion of privatizing religion and keeping it out of the public sphere, whereas later in the same position, Mitt Romney takes the exact opposite point of view.