Funny, isn't it, that a speech arguing against a "religious test" for presidential candidates should end this way:
Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion - rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith.
Well, okay. But what about the not insignificant, and growing, number of Americans who are agnostics, or atheists, or nonpracticing members of a religious faith? I suppose Romney chose all his words here carefully, and nonbelievers or unbelievers who nonetheless believe in religious freedom are Romney's friends and allies too.
Still: Contrast the above paragraph with past statements from George W. Bush, who has often gone out of his way to include nonbelievers among the groups of "people of faith" to whom he pays respect.
A historical aside: "The Speech" also included this paragraph:
Recall the early days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. 'They were too divided in religious sentiments', what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics ...
True! There also happened to be a deist among the Founders. But I guess that doesn't "fit the narrative," as they say.
