Episode 64: Theodore Roosevelt’s Defense of the Saints (Carter Charles)

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BYU Religious Education

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4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

In 1903, Latter-day Saint Apostle Reed Smoot was elected by Utah to become a United States senator. However, many in the country and Senate did not want to seat Elder Smoot due to his leadership position in the Church and because of the Church’s practice of polygamy. In this episode, Dr. Carter Charles recounts this history and President Theodore Roosevelt’s defense of Reed Smoot and the Latter-day Saints.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In early December 2007, former Massachusetts governor and
0:05.0	surging presidential candidate Mitt Romney stepped onto the stage at the Bush
0:09.6	Presidential Library in College Station, Texas to deliver an address titled Faith in
0:14.8	America. Flanked by American flags and with the seal of the United States on the
0:20.0	podium, Mitt Romney addressed a national audience on something that was very
0:24.2	embedded in American culture, but ironically contrary to the Constitution, a
0:30.2	candidate's religious faith affecting their fit for political office.
0:35.6	Today I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America's
0:40.6	greatness, our religious liberty. I'll also offer perspectives on how my own
0:47.2	faith would inform my presidency if I elected. Romney went on to give a 20
0:53.9	minute speech touching various topics related to religious liberty in America,
0:58.1	reminding the public that, quote, a person should not be elected because of his
1:03.4	faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith. End of quote. And he
1:09.1	reassured listeners that, quote, no authorities of my church or of any other
1:13.9	church for that matter will ever exert influence on presidential decisions.
1:18.5	End of quote. He then touched specifically on his own
1:22.6	lot of recent faith convictions. There are some for whom these commitments are
1:27.7	not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my
1:32.2	religion, say that it's more a tradition than my personal conviction or
1:37.4	disavowal one or another of its precepts. That I will not do I believe in my
1:43.9	Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my
1:48.4	fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs. In the aftermath of the
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