Mitt @ Regent

What has a Mormon to do with an evangelical university?

by Matt Green
from The Ministry Report, February 18, 2007

Under "normal" conditions, I would resist the urge to write another post on Mormon presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. However, when a friend and Regent University alum sent this to me, I just couldn't resist. As the official press release from Regent reads, the school is "pleased to announce that Mitt Romney will deliver the Regent University Commencement Address on Saturday, May 5, 2007."

Founded in 1978 by Pat Robertson, Regent has a reputation in the evangelical and secular world for its academic standards--particularly in the areas of law and communications. (On Feb. 11, students from Regent University's School of Law won the American Bar Association's Negotiation Competition. Regent succeeds last year's winner, Harvard Law School, in claiming the top prize for legal negotiation.)

As the Regent press release notes, "Romney joins Al Gore, Bob Dole, Wesley Clark, Alan Dershowitz, Ehud Barak, Hanan Ashrawi and others as recent principal speakers on the Regent University campus." Kudos to Regent for exposing its students to individuals who do not necessarily fit the right-wing, evangelical stereotype. (I can't help but wonder if Dershowitz's Harvard would ever invite Robertson to speak ... )

That being said, what are we to think when a university which exists "to bring glory to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit" invites a practicing Mormon to deliver the commencement address? From my observation, college commencement speakers are usually chosen because they represent models of success that graduating students may someday attain. As an entrepreneur and family man, Romney deserves our respect. But, as a Mormon, his religious beliefs are far from conventional and are contradictory to the basic doctrines of orthodox Christianity.

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but could it be that Romney's appearance at Regent is the result of two converging political dynamics? The first is that Romney must allay the concerns of the evangelical voting public by downplaying Mormon distinctives and aligning the religion as merely another "denomination" within the broad landscape of American Christianity. Giving the commencement address at a prominent evangelical university definitely helps accomplish this objective. The second is that Pat Robertson may see Romney as the only candidate capable of effectively challenging the democratic juggernauts of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Therefore, he may be willing to overlook the conflict of Romney's faith and Regent's mission for the purpose of enhancing Romney's reputation among evangelicals.

copyright 2007, Strang Communications