Evangelicals bristle over Mitt's faith

As Mitt Romney scours the South for endorsements from evangelical leaders, he is

getting some unusual advice on how to explain his Mormon faith: Don't try to be

one of us.

"I told him, you cannot equate Mormonism with Christianity; you cannot say,

'I am a Christian just like you,"' said Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina, which

is scheduled to hold the first primary among the Southern states. "If he does

that, every Baptist preacher in the South is going to have to go to the pulpit

on Sunday and explain the differences."

This advice, which reflects the views of many Southern Baptists and other

evangelicals, makes Romney's co-religionists bristle. "The fact that we are

Christians is non-negotiable," said Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for The Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In seeking the Republican nomination, Romney, 60, has to court the

churchgoing voters who make up almost 30 percent of the party's electorate.

Evangelical leaders are urging him to explain his faith, much as John F. Kennedy

addressed his Catholicism during his 1960 presidential run. In ways, Romney

faces a tougher task than Kennedy did.

Evangelical leaders say Romney, unlike Kennedy, won't be able to defuse the

religion question by citing the First Amendment of the Constitution and

advocating a rigid separation of church and state. Many Christian conservatives

blame such a separation for a variety of social ills.

"We need more injection of an understanding of God in our political life," said

Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and a potential

third-party, anti-abortion presidential candidate. "I am looking for a candidate

that understands that this nation is established on a particular God."