On Thursday, December 6, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a speech entitled "Faith in America". Its purpose, per the mainstream media, was to try to quell concerns about his Mormonism.

As it turned out, he seemed to do his best to pander to the radical religious "right". He promised that he would not allow his church, or any other church, to influence his decisions as president.

However, he also said the following, which I find quite disturbing:

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom."

What?

Freedom requires religion?

Since when?

I consider myself an agnostic, and I do not subscribe to any religion. So is Romney telling me that I cannot, or should not, have freedom?

And what about the First Amendment, in which our founding fathers declared that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion? Apparently they did not believe that you needed religion in order to have freedom.

I wish the mainstream media would call him on this. But I shall not hold my breath.

>> Read the full text of Romney's speech.

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About author Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated. E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com