Posted on 12/17/2005 8:39:05 AM PST by Mr. Blonde
HE MADE millions as a businessman, saved the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics, appeals to social conservatives, is liked by moderates, boasts chiselled good looks and has been a successful Republican governor in one of America’s most liberal states. In Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Governor who all but threw his hat into the 2008 presidential race yesterday, Republicans have the almost perfect candidate. Except for one potential problem: Mr Romney is a Mormon.
After announcing that he would not be seeking a second term as Massachusetts governor, a widely anticipated move that clears the way for a 2008 White House bid, Mr Romney implicitly posed a fascinating political question: can a Mormon win enough votes to become President of the United States?
Mr Romney, whom analysts on both sides of the political divide say will be a serious contender in 2008, was elected governor of Massachusetts — one of the bluest of Democrat blue states — as a social moderate. In the past year, however, he has changed his stance on social issues important to religious conservatives, the base of the Republican Party that wields enormous influence in the Republican primary race. Mr Romney once said that abortion should be “safe and legal”, but now opposes it. He denounced the decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court to legalise gay marriage. Calling himself a “red speck in a blue state”, he has emphasised socially conservative positions on the death penalty, stem-cell research and birth control.
But Manuel Miranda, head of the Third Branch Conference, an alliance of conservative groups, said that many evangelicals view Mormonism — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — as a cult. Mr Miranda said that in 2000 he worked for Orrin Hatch, the Utah senator and a Mormon, during his unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination. “Hatch had a poll done. He found that over 60 per cent of Americans would not vote for a Mormon.”
Richard Cizik, of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that Mormons were not Christians, and that profound doctrinal divisions would shape reactions to Mr Romney as a candidate for the White House. The view among evangelicals might change if Mr Romney’s main opponent is Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor, who is socially moderate and supports abortion.
Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, believes that Mr Romney’s religion will not be a significant issue. His biggest problem, Mr Luntz said, is that he comes from Massachusetts. Although he balanced the state’s budget, lowered taxes and improved education, “the last time Massachusetts produced a Republican candidate was never”.
Mr Romney may also face the charge of being a “flip-flopper” — an accusation that did so much damage to the last presidential candidate from Massachusetts with impossibly thick hair: John Kerry.
The last president to come from Massachusetts was John Kennedy, who successfully overcame concerns about being the first Roman Catholic in the White House.
Mr Romney can also take encouragement from the experience of his Mormon father, George Romney, who was Governor of Michigan. His 1968 presidential bid imploded after he said that he had been “brainwashed” into supporting the Vietnam War. “But until then,” Steve Hess, of the Brookings Institution, said, “there was no question he could have been elected.”
p.s.
That's not saying there aren't "cult-like" branches of LDS, but there are extreme, cult-like branches of a lot of religions.
Indications are that Mr. Romney has no hard principles. The writer likes him but the writer also calls Giuliani a social "moderate." Giuliani is a social leftist. There is nothing moderate about his views on abortion, marriage, and guns.
I would have no problem voting for a Mormon. I would have a problem voting for the particular Mormon under discussion here.
I think the answer is clearly, no, America will not elect a mormon as POTUS. At least not when the Republican Party is depending on Bible believing people to vote. I, and millions of others will not vote that day - we will grieve and watch a Demoncrat win.
How do we so frequently get off point on these threads. The point raised in the article about people perhaps not voting for Gov. Romney because of his Mormon beliefs had to do with how Evangelical Christians would view him. If you do not consider yourself an Evangelical Christian, then your opinion of Mr. Romney's Mormonism though interesting, is not germane to the point raised in the article. I have attempted to keep to that point by defining why many Evangelical Christians consider Mormonism a cult. You don't have to agree with that definition, but it is important in considering the point raised in the article.
The words I speak are true of all mankind.
You and I are bound by the Bible. Even if you can't handle the Truth, you will be bound by it as I will be.
I would have no problems living with Mormons or with people with my convictions.
Convictions do not keep us from being civil.
m,
If you have to add anything of your own works to Christ's death and shed blood, then you are not relying on Him alone as a Savior. Despite using terminology as you do, when you change the meaning of the words, you are talking about a belief that is wholly different than what a Christian means when they use the same words. And that is common in the mormon faith. They mean something very different from what Christian means when he uses Biblical words.
Sadly, mormons do not believe Christ ALONE is enough for salvation. To a mormon, Christ's death was insufficient to grant salvation.
Sadly, mormons do not know who Christ is. They wrongly identify Him as a god - not THE GOD. They believe he was a man who became God - and that, if they follow the mormon rules, they can be god of their own world. This is a heresy. It is the original sin of Satan - wanting to be God.
Sadly, mormons believe a host of things that are non-Biblical. Many, many, many. Including the "holy underwear".
Every discussion [emphasis on "every"] I've ever had with Mormons always ends the same. A refusal to believe what the Bible actually says and a retreat to experience - "... the burning they felt in their bosom." Every time. If you don't have objective truth, you have to retreat to subjective experience.
I simply post this so that anyone who does not know what Scripture teaches will not believe what you posted.
ampu
Would you say your views are Evangelical Christian?
I don't know what they look like, but I was told they were to suppress the desire for pre-marital sex.
EO,
I am an evangelical Christian. By that, I mean that I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that I believe in the Fundamentals of the faith. And you ask, why?
best,
ampu
To the Romans Jews were a cult. Later the Christians were considered a cult by both of those "groups."
What's the problem? We had a moron for eight years prior to 2000.....Oh, sorry, never mind.
Apparently, it is the Evangelical Christian point of view that was asked for and you have responded. It is an irony that liberals are less judgmental of the Mormon faith and would more likely vote for Mitt Romney rather than the Evangelicals who vote conservative as do the majority Mormons.
Boy, you sure know everything. I just love it when you player-haters spew your stupid ideas of what other religions are. Since you are doing a lot of ASSuming, then I will assume you are the type of Christian who tries to convert people by telling them how stupid and wrong they are. You are the PETA of christians.
Let's see now. For one, neither the Palestinians nor the French would ever set foot in the White House. --- Oh well! No great loss!!!
:-)
Your post really made me smile.
Was there something specific - for example, factual - that troubled you or that you would like to refute with actual evidence?
Was there some desire for a deeper discussion that was evoked by my post, or was yours simply a drive-by shooting?
I wear your scorn with joy, with peace and wish you the best.
:-) ampu
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