Again and again, Mitt has avoided the question of his religious beliefs. Ostensibly, he says there ought to be no religious litmus test for a candidate. He goes on to say (I paraphrase, but I can dig up quotes if anyone doubts it), that religion won't influence his decision making (Riiiight. And breathing won't influence the oxygen levels in my blood stream). Such assurances are transparently obvious smokescreens. Basically, he doesn't want to talk about Mormonism because, well, non-Mormons see it as a wacky religion invented by a 19th century charlatan and which has a dark history of violence, racism and sexual abuse. It's not a can of worms that can be easily closed once opened.
Being secular myself, I agree that a candidate's religion ought not to be a deal-breaker, and should not be an important part of the public debate about how that candidate would govern. I believe it is possible to be both religious and capable of executing the laws as written. But Mormonism creates a very specific possible conflict of interest for anyone holding a secular public office: the doctrine of revelation, laid out by Joseph Smith, which says, essentially, that anyone (except black people) can receive a legitimate revelation from God.
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