I am NOT, once again, blaming intolerance for Romney’s S.C. loss or anything else. But I get e-mails like this frequently — and especially today for obvious reasons — and I think that there’s a post-election year conversation for someone out there to have about religion and public life (it’s why when First Things and Ethics and Public Policy Center and a slew of others exit … the rest of us should pay more attention).

If I am a devout Christian, and fervently believe that Mormonism represents false teaching of my religion, how is there something wrong with choosing not to vote for someone who would serve, via his prominence alone, to draw attention to those false teachings?
Look, we’re not talking sprinkling vs. immersion here. We’re talking about a religion that seeks to piggy-back on Christianity. That’s a problem for many Christians, and there’s not a damn thing wrong or uncharitable about it.

It’s a free country, you are free not to vote for a Mormon. But that shouldn’t be the end of the conversation.

Am I wrong?

P.S. For over a year, we’ve seen mainstream blogs and publications discuss underwear (as in Mormon underwear). I’ve seen, in recent months, tears in a great working alliance. There will be repair work to do when this primary and election is over. I hope we can all gain perspective on politics and civil society. We need it if we want to be a winning coalition and … America.