I do admit that I haven’t studied Mormonism in any depth, as I never seriously considered becomeing one. Obviously there are others on FR who know much more about the topic than I do. However, there is no religious test in the Constitution. Whether Mormons are Christians are not is not relevent in a Presidential election. The President is not the National Pope or Preacher in Chief. If a Mormon were elected President, it’s not as if you’d be required to join his church.
My problems with Mitt Romney have nothing to do with his religious faith. In fact, I fear that bringing it up may cause sympathy for him, making him appear to be a victim of bigotry, and I don’t want that to happen. There are a lot of non-religious reasons to oppose Romney and I think we should stick to those.
If a Mormon were elected President, it’s not as if you’d be required to join his church.
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perhaps not. However his position will be used to further Mormonism both politically and as PR religously. Mormonism is losing members by the tens of thousands or more every year and they will use a Mormon POTUS to stem that loss because they need to.
There are certainly political reasons to oppose Romney, but I also don’t want anything to happen to further that cult (and yes it is a cult - according to all 3 disciplinary definitions), and I want a president I can trust. I don’t want a president who thinks this is a step to godhood or that he is fulfilling a prophecy from 1844.
I can’t trust Mitt Romney. Frankly, I don’t trust many Mormons - years of personal experience. Also, the Mormon angle WILL BE USED to make sure Romney doesn’t get the presidency and insure Obama 4 more years.
Mitt cannot win POTUS and Mormonism will be front and center in the election because the Dems know it will guarantee 4 more years of Zero.
The Constitution does NOT forbid anyone to vote for OR against someone because of their religion...only allows one to be a candidate regardless of their religion. This "unconstitional" theme has been played over and over on Romney threads since I began posting on them in '07.
I fear that bringing it up may cause sympathy for him, making him appear to be a victim of bigotry
Do you REALLY believe that will stop the democrats from slamming him with everything that is arcane and racist about the mormon church? Do you think they will not point out that until 1978, blacks were discriminated against in the mormon church? I fear that if Romney is NOT stopped NOW before the nomination he will go down in flames in the general.
That statement is true however it applies to the government NOT an individual.
What views a person holds on faith is at the core of who they are. These views color all other aspects of their lives. The world views of a person AND their belief system are their essence and therefore important.
There is no religious test imposed upon voters in the voting booth. Voters can take the characteristics & qualities of any candidate.
If a candidate is vulnerable in the key areas of their life (religion), then who are you to tell voters in the voting booth that they can't take that into consideration as a character flaw?
We're not talking about voting for dogcatcher, after all, but THE leader of the free world.
If Newt announced Monday that he was a baby god on his way to becoming a grown-up God, I don't think you would be crying in the wilderness preaching, scolding, and lecturing that voters can't take that into consideration at voting time.
If that's true with Newt, then why does Mitt get a free pass from you?
I guess you wouldn't take a jihadist Muslim religious position into consideration -- if you had an ounce of consistency running thru your blood.