In response to the fear of Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Convention that Gov. Romney will make Mormonism seem more like a “legitimate Christian” group, John Mark Reynolds has this to say:

He will be glad to know that my faith in the holiness standards of Baptists survived Clinton and my belief in their sanity survived Carter, though that was a closer call.

He continues:

I think it far more likely that it is a traditional Mormon that should worry about a Romney candidacy pressing Mormonism in an Evangelical direction. There is always social pressure on a religious minority group to conform to the larger group. In explaining their ideas to the rest of us, I think it far more likely that Mormons will evolve in a Christian direction, than that the rest of us will suddenly decide their more esoteric theology is mainstream.

Interesting, no?

The whole article is worth a slow read. He contends that millions of Mormons will not disappear if we refrain from inviting them to the Baptist potlucks... and we might have a few lessons to learn from our Mormon neighbors about how to raise patriotic, moral kids. They are, after all, a part of American society.

Our social compact is based on adherence to the Constitution of 1789 and does not require my Mormon neighbor to join my local parish.