I'm shocked it has come down to this.
sw
You’re right, we should be shocked at what a small segment of bigots have necessitated.
That small segment has made a big noise on this supposedly conservative forum, too.
He's not being persecuted, nor was he forced to give the speech. He is falling behind because he has flip-flopped on all his views and appears to be a candidate that takes positions only based on political expediency. People don't care if he thinks Jesus came to America or if the Garden of Eden is in Missouri, they don't trust him because of his past political positions. Now he is trying to play the victim by blaming his failed campaign on his religion. I think it is shameful.
He chose to give this speech, he was not forced into it. And I see no evidence that he's been persecuted in any way.
In fact, Romney's religion comes up as a topic almost solely as a result from those in Romney's camp. Today's speech, no matter how well wordsmithed, still comes out as "I'm a devout Mormon, but don't you dare take that into account nor ask me to defend my beliefs. And, if you don;t vote for me you're a bigot." It's defensive and a reaction to the fact that he's on pace to lose Iowa, no matter how many millions of dollars he thought he bought it with.
And he's losing not because of his religion, but because of his record.
“The man is being persecuted for being a...Mormon!!??.”
Nothing new about that.